


The Master, The Doctor and The Wolf

by Cheriluvs10



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-30
Updated: 2014-10-03
Packaged: 2018-02-15 10:34:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 30
Words: 38,041
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2225868
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cheriluvs10/pseuds/Cheriluvs10
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Twelve/Rose with Clara, the Master and Metacrisis Doctor. The Master has managed to escape from Gallifrey through one of the cracks in time. He is dying and needs a body badly and he decides that the best way to torment his old foe is to take over the body of the woman he truly loves.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Chapter One

At last, he found his exit, a way to escape Gallifrey for good. The cracks in the fabric of reality were numerous but he was sure he had found the right universe, the original one. The one the Doctor had inhabited.

After killing Rassilon, he had managed to flee the council chambers, blasting anyone who got in his way with his energy bolts. Then he kept on running and hiding, dodging soldiers and security forces who wanted him for murder. Running and running until he found shelter high up in the mountains, inside a cave where he managed to eke out a living by killing animals with his energy bolts and keeping warm in the chilly air by doing the same thing to light fires. By now, he'd become quite proficient at controlling his energy but the fact remains that his body was still decaying and dying and if he didn't find another, he would soon perish.

He did come down from the mountain from time to time to gather food and find supplies from a nearby village. During one of his forays, he managed to kidnap a homeless boy, a little nine year old street beggar that he hypnotized and used as a servant and spy. The boy, named Xelok, became his eyes and ears. That was how he learned that Gallifrey had been sent to another universe after Xelok overheard some soldiers discussing it. And then, Xelok heard the soldiers talking about finding cracks in the universe and trying to communicate with the Doctor through them so Gallifrey could return home. He also needed a body badly. True, he could take over Xelok's body but he had no desire to be nine years old again. And he really didn't want anyone from the village. What he really wanted was the Doctor's body…or someone close to him perhaps. One of his little pets like Martha…or Rose. He seemed very fond of Rose. He recalled the conversation between him and Jack on Malcasairo and how he had entered the Doctor's mind during his time on the Valiant and seen how much she meant to him. He wondered what would happen if he took over Rose's body instead. He grinned, imagining how much torment that would bring his old adversary. After all, it had traumatized Nyssa when he did the same thing to her father, didn't it?

The problem was finding the child since she was also in another universe. It was going to be bad enough finding the Doctor without finding her as well. Still, first things first. He had to find a way to get back to the Citadel and find a way off the planet.

"There must be something they have planned if they're going to come back to the real world," the Master mused as he sat inside his cave by a roaring fire. "They must have a device of some sort that can propel them across the void. If they have it, I want it."

He looked across the cave at Xelok. Xelok was standing quietly out of the range of the fire. The Master smiled, realizing in some small way he did care about this outcast boy and called him over to the fire.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

(Pete's World…)

Rose Tyler laid the note on the night table beside the bed she shared with the Metacrisis Doctor. After a year of trying to make their relationship work, Rose realized that she couldn't be faithful to this cloned Doctor while she still had feelings for the other one. She realized the clone Doctor would be heartbroken once he read the note but she felt it was more loving to let him go and let him find someone who could love him 100 percent, rather than having someone who loved him because he looked like someone else. She was doing him a disservice by not loving him completely so she was going to go and try to track down the Doctor by trying to use the dimension cannon again. It was risky but Rose was willing to take that risk in order to be with the man she loved.

She stood by the bed and stared at the clone Doctor. He was sleeping peacefully, his chest rising and falling and a slight smile on his face. Normally, he was a scientific advisor at Torchwood, working alongside his girlfriend. Today was his day off and he was relaxing. It was Rose's day off as well but she felt now was the time to try to reach the other universe. She glanced at the note, debating whether to leave it at all in case she failed in her mission. Then she decided if she did and came back, perhaps they could have a frank discussion about why she really couldn't be with him.

"Goodbye, Doctor, " she murmured and slowly turned around and walked out of room.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

(The original universe…)

"Bugger this!"

Clara sat on the jump seat near the console and watched with the Twelfth Doctor made repairs to his ship. Ever since he regenerated, she had learned to stay out of his way whenever he was grumpy because she learned, he was much more brusque than her other Doctor had been.

Twelve sighed and laid his screwdriver down on the console.

"Are you alright?" Clara said gently as Twelve ran his hand through his short, graying hair.

"No," Twelve spat out, his accent thickly Scottish, "I'm not alright, Clara. I'm frustrated. It's getting harder and harder to fix the old girl. I think she's in need of a regeneration as well."

Clara was about to suggest he take a rest when the Doctor stepped away from the console and headed towards her.

"She's old, Clara, older than I am," he said when he reached her side. "She was old when I took her, old and wonky, just like me."

Clara didn't know what to say to that. She'd gotten used to walking on eggshells around this Doctor and was afraid she'd say something that made him angry. Then he chuckled and laid his hand on her cheek.

"You can laugh at that," he said.

Clara smiled and nodded. This Doctor seemed more angry and less approachable than her other Doctor but sometimes Clara thought that was just an act to keep her and the universe at arm's length. Sometimes, there was still a bit of tenderness in his actions and still a fond look or two. She remembered what he said about not being his boyfriend and she wondered if he was saying that to convince her or to convince himself.

"So what do we do now?" Clara asked him.

"Dunno. I have to land her somewhere and sort this out though. The Flux Modulator is a vital part. I need to fix it before we do any serious traveling. I suppose we could go back to your present day London. That way you can keep on working while I fix the old girl. Sound good?"

"Sounds good to me," Clara said.

"Right, I'll set a course for London then," the Doctor said before walking back to the console.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

(Pete's World…)

Benjamin Thompson looked up from his paperwork and gazed at Rose with mild shock. He worked the reception desk at Torchwood and he had a work schedule near him that he consulted every day so he'd know who was coming in to work. He knew today was Rose's day off so it was a bit of a surprise to see her standing across from him flashing her ID badge.

"Ms. Tyler," Benjamin said, "you aren't scheduled to work today."

"I know, Ben, I forget to take some paperwork home yesterday and I want to work at it on home since it's top priority. Won't be long."

Ben nodded. Rose gazed at him for a moment while he phoned security to know she was in the building. He was young, mid twenties, with short brown hair and feathered bangs and he wore wire rimmed glasses. She thought him quite handsome. In many ways, he reminded her of the Doctor and a pang hit her heart when that thought entered her mind. Guilt overwhelmed her when she realized she was running out on a man who truly loved and cherished her but she couldn't love him completely, not while her original Doctor lived. And so, she was risking her life to find the man she truly loved, perhaps killing herself in the process because she wanted better for him and for her.

"Okay, Rose, you can go up now," Benjamin said as he hung up the phone.

Rose thanked him and headed for the lift.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Rose breathed a sigh of relief when she finally entered the room where the dimension cannon was located. She and the Doctor shared a flat so she had no idea her stepfather was at work today. He was her superior though and he knew she had a day off so she had to explain that she needed some paperwork and basically bullshit her way out of spending the day doing inspections with him. And now finally, here she was, with the dimension cannon.

She locked the door after making sure no one was around and looked the cannon over. It was basically a platform, like the holodeck on the Enterprise and a console where you could program in coordinates. The coordinates for the Doctor's universe had been saved by Torchwood after Rose found it so she could simply input then into the database, push a few buttons and…

That was where it got complicated. Before the barriers broke down, it was basically a matter of going out and being bounced back. If the walls between dimensions were truly closed, she would be teleported back to command center and that was that. She'd have to go back to the flat and explain the letter to the clone Doctor. As she started up the cannon and input the saved coordinates, she prayed that she would be successful.

"Come on, the Doctor found a gap when he spoke to me the first time," she muttered to herself as the cannon powered up. "Surely, there's more gaps out there for me to get through."

The cannon finished powering up and Rose steeled herself as she stepped onto the platform. There was a countdown set for one minute, enough time for Rose to get ready to be broken down into atoms, sent across the void and reassembled in the other universe. It wasn't painful but it felt odd because she had the sensation that she was dissolving into nothing and then a sense of flight before being reassembled somewhere else. Usually, she signaled to her team when she was ready to leave, a light appeared and she either ran into it or it enveloped her and that same sensation came again. It was odd to say the least but if it found her the Doctor again, she would endure it.

As the countdown hit zero and a light began to envelop her, Rose closed her eyes and said a silent prayer that she would find the Doctor again.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

(London, England…)

The Twelfth Doctor opened the door of his TARDIS and looked out. They were in the middle of Hyde Park near a tree and it was nighttime with the moon shining high above. The Doctor glanced up at it and smiled. He put his hands in his pockets and stepped outside with Clara following behind him. The night was slightly chilly and the Doctor inhaled the scent of London while Clara looked around.

"Gorgeous night," the Doctor said as Clara shut the door. "London is one of my favorite places to be."

"I can see that since you come here every other day," Clara quipped as she walked up beside him.

"That was because I had to come and get you all the time," the Doctor said. "That and the Ponds. Amy and Rory…I miss them."

Clara frowned. There was that name again. She wondered who Amy was but he didn't answer when she asked him and she doubt he'd answer now. For the moment, she was content to be here with her friend, enjoying the night air.

Then suddenly, the Doctor stepped in front of her, held up his hand and smiled.

"Dance with me, Clara?" he said to her.

"What? Now?" Clara said, looking around.

"Yeah. Who cares if someone sees us. Have a little moonlight dance with me."

"You mean…"

Clara thrust her arms up in the air and jerked them spasmodically the way her other Doctor did. She laughed when Twelve rolled his eyes at that.

"I'm a much better dancer now, trust me," he said to her.

He held out his hand again and Clara smiled as she took it. He brought her close to him and Clara felt her hearts quicken slightly as she and the Doctor began to waltz around the area. Despite her earlier misgivings, she was getting used to this version of her Doctor and even thought him handsome. And he was right, he was a better dancer, elegant and graceful instead of stepping on toes and muttering apologies.

Then when the Doctor turned her around, she caught sight of a flash of light over her shoulder and she got the Doctor's attention and pointed it out to him. By then, the light had faded but it was about fifty feet away so Clara hurried with the Doctor to check it out.

When they finally reached the spot, Clara looked around but all she could see was a blonde woman who was looking around with a confused look on her face. She glanced up at the Doctor and was taken aback at the shocked expression on his face. Before she could say anything, the woman spoke to them.

"Please," she said to them. "I need your help. I'm looking for a man called the Doctor."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

(Gallifrey…)

It was all too easy.

Xelok had assisted him in capturing the guards. He simply pretended to be a lost and hungry child looking for assistance. The guard and his associate were lured away from the front entrance of the Citadel by the child who pretended to go off in search of his parents. He led them far enough away that when the Master ambushed them, no one could hear their terrified cries as he shocked them into unconciousness. Then he waited until they were awake and hypnotized them both, putting them under his thrall.

Now he was pretending to be their prisoner while he and Xelok walked between the hypnotized guards while they escorted them to the War Room. He was hoping that was where the crack was since he was sure the military was guarding it. He also needed to find a way to travel once he got to the other side but he would worry about that later.

One of the guards told them to wait when they reached the door to the War Room. The Master waited calmly as the guard went inside to announce their presence. While he did that, he looked at his associate. The man was young looking with a youthful baby face and blue eyes. He was wearing a red helmet so he didn't know what color hair he had but all the same, a nice choice for a body if he wanted to switch out. And given the fact that his body was breaking down, it seemed like a very good idea until he found the Doctor.

The door opened again and the Master was eyes front as the other guard told his associate to bring them inside. He smirked when he saw the General standing there with his council around the large granite table inside the darkened room. But what was even more exciting was right at the back of the room was the crack, gaping and glowing and utterly tempting. He looked at the General with disdain. He had no love for these bureaucrats, especially since they were the ones who tried to make him fight the Time War. Disposing of them all would be a pleasure.

The General walked up to the guards and glanced at the Master and Xelok.

"Why are they not in restraints?" he said to the guard the Master had designs on. "Do you know how dangerous this man is?"

"I have no restraints on me, Sir," the man said in a slightly dull voice. "I was guarding the door."

"As was I," the other guard said in an equally dull voice.

"You have restraints," the General said to them while the Master smirked. "You have the authority to restrain anyone who tries to enter the Citadel without permission."

"Oh yes," the Master said airily. "Because we don't want all your secrets getting out to the general populace, eh?"

He sneered at the General when the General glared at him. Then the General looked at Xelok.

"And who is this boy?" he said, pointing to Xelok.

"Ah, this lad is a lost soul that I adopted," the Master said, patting Xelok on the head.

The General snorted.

"Abducted, more like," he said.

"Anyway, down to business," the Master said, slapping his hands together. "Guards, seize the General."

The General gasped when both guards grabbed hold of him, put his arms behind his back and locked it with handcuffs.

"See, they did have restraints after all," the Master said.

He noticed the council members running to stop him but they stopped the moment he shot a bolt of electricity at the ceiling. He chuckled when they froze and stared at him fearfully.

"Right," the Master said to the struggling General. "Now, let's talk about my leaving Gallifrey, hm?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The Doctor was struck dumb by the appearance of Rose in front of him. No matter how many times he said goodbye to her, she always managed to find her way back to him. Was it a sign from the universe? He suspected someone was trying to keep him and Clara together at all costs but what about him and Rose.

Clara was looking at him for an answer and he knew he had to stop standing there slack jawed and do something. He composed himself while Rose waited for someone to give her an answer.

"Rose, I am the Doctor," he said, walking up to her.

Rose was momentarily stunned by the use of her name but the Doctor knew that was confirmation of who he was because Rose came to him and put her hand on his chest while she studied his face.

"You got old," she finally said.

"I'm not that old," the Doctor said defensively while Clara chuckled behind him. "Bloody hell, everything thinks I'm an old geezer with a cane now."

"No, I didn't mean you look old as in ugly. You just look…more distinguished," Rose said.

"You're not upset. I mean, I'm not a pretty boy anymore."

"I've grown out of that phase," Rose said.

"Good. Because I'm not changing for you," the Doctor said.

Rose went to hug him but the Doctor backed up and put his hands out.

"I'm not a hugger anymore, Rose. Sorry," he said to her.

Clara finally came up to Rose when she noticed how hurt she looked. She could relate. Her other Doctor hugged her all the time and it was a big shock to her when the Doctor was suddenly hands out. But to her surprise, the Doctor had a second thought and he came forward and put his arms around her. Rose tentatively put her arms around him and leaned into him. Clara noticed the Doctor was a bit uncomfortable with the hug, the way he'd been when she did it but he didn't say anything and let Rose hug him tightly.

When she let go, the Doctor stepped back.

"So now that that's sorted, why are you here?" he said.

Again, Clara noticed Rose's shock at how terse and businesslike he was. She wondered if she had known her Doctor and was used to his warmth and smiles.

"I came here to find you," Rose said, just as businesslike.

The Doctor sighed and threw up his hands, walking away while he muttered to himself about pudding brain apes who never listened to him. Rose stood there and stared at him with wide mouth shock so Clara decided to say something.

"I've been with him awhile," she said to her. "His last life was more warm and open and he's done this to me as well. It's hard to accept at first but I learned to live with it."

"I didn't think he'd be overjoyed that I came back but I thought he'd at least be happy to see me," Rose said. "He never shied away from a hug before."

"Did you travel with him then?" Clara said.

Rose nodded while she watched the Doctor stand by himself and try to calm himself down.

"His last life then?" Clara said.

"Dunno, what did he look like then?" Rose said.

Clara described her Doctor and Rose slowly shook her head.

"No, he didn't have floppy hair. His hair was short on top and stuck straight up."

"Oh! Yes, I've seen that Doctor before. He and my Doctor, they worked together for a bit," Clara said. "He was friendly as well."

"Yeah," Rose said, nodding. "My Doctor left me in a parallel universe with a clone of himself. He wanted me to stay with him and make it work but I couldn't," Rose said loudly so the Doctor could hear him. "I tried to make it work, Doctor, but I couldn't love him completely. He wasn't you, not really."

"So you left him alone then, on his own?" the Doctor said, turning back to her. "After I told you not to?"

"He wasn't that dangerous, Doctor," Rose said angrily as he Doctor walked back to her. "In fact, he was a bit insulted that you thought he wouldn't make it on his own…"

"I don't give a damn what he thought," the Doctor yelled at her. "I can't be your boyfriend, Rose. I can't be Clara's boyfriend and I can't be yours, alright? I'm not that sort of man anymore."

Rose was stunned by that but Clara could also tell she was stunned at the implication that Clara had been his girlfriend.

"I'm sorry, Rose," the Doctor said with a sigh. "This is why I sent you away. Because I was afraid this would happen eventually. I'm not as…affectionate as I used to be. Ask Clara."

"Alright, I understand that," Rose said with a nod. "And I accept it because even if you don't love me, I still love you and I accept you for who you are. I got used to you after you changed the first time, I can get used to this version as well."

"Rose, I can't…"

"You can't be my boyfriend, I understand that. But can we at least be friends?" Rose said.

The Doctor considered that for a moment and then nodded.

"Yes, we can do that."

"Okay, I can also live with that. I just want to be with you as a friend, lover, whatever I am to you, as long as I'm with you I don't care. So will you let me come with you?"

"Well, I suppose I'll have to since I can't let you endanger the universe again. So yes, you can come with us."

Rose smiled at that. She started to hug him then caught herself and stood there awkwardly. The Doctor shook his head with a bemused smile and gave Rose another hug while Clara watched with a smile on her face.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

(Pete's World…)

The Clone Doctor slowly opened his eyes as he struggled to come back to the waking world. He looked over at the wall and noticed the sunlight was filtering in through the closed curtains. His eyes drifted to the alarm clock on his bedside table and he noticed it was nearly noon.

"Blimey, I must have been dead tired," he muttered.

He turned his head to see if Rose was there and groaned softly when he noticed she was all alone.

"Woman has more energy than I do," he muttered as he sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed.

He called for Rose and told her he was awake as he got up. He put his hand against the small of his back and stretched for a moment, trying to work the kinks out of his back while he muttered about the frailties of a human body. He walked around the side of the bed and paused when he saw a folded piece of paper on the bedside table with his name on it. He picked it up, unfolded it and read…

Doctor,

I'm sorry for doing this to you. It's a cowardly way to say goodbye but I don't want an argument. I can't stay with you any longer. I love you but I'm not in love with you. I'm in love with the original Doctor and it's not fair to either of us for me to keep up the charade. You deserve someone who can love you with all their heart and I'm not that woman. I wish you the best of the luck, Doctor, please don't hate me. I'm going to use the dimension cannon and try to go back home. I don't know if it'll work or not but I have to try. Please understand and go on with your life. Find true happiness, the sort of happiness you can't have with me.

Rose.

The Doctor angrily crumpled up the letter and threw it to the floor. He stood there for a moment shaking with anger before he made up his mind to fight for his relationship with Rose.

"You may think it can't work, Rose. But I'm not going to give up just yet," the Doctor said before hurrying to get ready to go to Torchwood.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Rose followed Clara and the Doctor back to the TARDIS. Normally, she would have been overjoyed to see it but the fact that the man she loved brushed her off as if she didn't matter upset her and spoiled the moment. She thought that the Doctor would always love her deeply but she would never guess that a personality change meant that his love for her would dwindle since that hadn't happened when he regenerated before. She suddenly regretted leaving behind the Doctor that she knew did love her for one who might regard her as a friend at best. Still, she was determined to make the most of the situation and she was happy to be traveling with him again and finding a friend in the bargain. Clara was young like her and she seemed nice enough. At least she'd be there for the days when the Doctor would be moody. She guessed this new incarnation was much like the Ninth Doctor and she was heartened by that when she remembered the Tenth Doctor telling her that she made him better. Maybe with time, she could heal this Doctor as well.

The Doctor unlocked the door and opened it and Rose was stunned a second time when she saw the interior. Gone was the organic look, replaced by a steel interior. Rose stepped into the interior and felt the same way she felt when she first saw the TARDIS as she looked around the console room. Clara noticed her shock and walked back.

"What's wrong?" she said to Rose.

"It's different, very different from the way it was," Rose said. "It's just a bit of a shock, that's all."

"I had a coral interior, not metallic," the Doctor said to them as he stood at the console. "The TARDIS was damaged when I regenerated into my eleventh incarnation and chose a metal interior. I liked it and changed it again before I met Clara and now I've recently tweeked it. Still not happy with it though, still needs more round things on the walls but it'll do for now. Close the door, Rose."

Rose shut the doors and the Doctor sighed and ran his hand over his head.

"Still need to work on the console so we're not going anywhere yet. So if you want to find your room, Rose. I'm sure it's in the same spot as before. Clara, go with her. You can keep each other company while I try to sort this out."

Rose nodded and headed towards the back door with Clara. The Doctor stood at the console and watched them leave the room. He waited another minute, making sure they weren't coming back inside before he left the console and headed upstairs to his chair. He lowered himself into it and put his hands in his head.

"Blimey, why is nothing ever easy?" he muttered to himself.

He took his hands away and sat back in his chair, contemplating the events that just transpired. He didn't want to admit it but he still loved Rose deeply just as he still loved Clara. Things had gotten complicated with Clara. He nearly lost her when she jumped into his time stream and that had terrified him, even though it was supposed to happen. Then he became trapped on Trenzalor and he tried to send her away to protect her just as he sent away Rose but like Rose, Clara kept on returning, loyal to the end. He'd suffered so much loss and so much heartsache during the past 2000 years that he just couldn't bear it anymore. So he laid the ground rules from the start, telling Clara he wasn't her boyfriend and he wasn't a hugger to discourage her from getting too close. But now, Rose was back and with it, his old feelings for her that he'd manage to shove down into the very core of his being. How was he going to handle this one? He hated seeing the hurt look on her face when he told her they couldn't be lovers or even hug.

"Complications, always complications," he muttered as he stared at the ceiling.

"Doctor?"

The Doctor jerked his head towards the back door when he heard Clara's voice. He quickly got up and tried to appear casual.

"Yes. I was thinking over the problem with the console," he said as casually as he could as he came down the steps.

"Don't give me that, Doctor, you were thinking about Rose," Clara said, coming towards him.

"Why? Did she tell you that?" the Doctor said to her.

"No, I can tell that she loved you deeply. I'm not blind."

The Doctor nodded.

"Do you still love her?" Clara said.

"Would it shut you up if I told you it was none of your business?" the Doctor said brusquely.

"It might but I'm not meaning to be intrusive…"

"Well you are being intrusive, Clara. What happened to Rose and me is between us. And that part of my life is over. I will be friends with her like I'm friends with you. We can be mates in that sense but not mates in the other sense, is that okay?"

"Yes, Doctor, sorry," Clara said, wishing for the hundredth time that this Doctor was like her other one.

The Doctor sighed, hating that she was upset with his new personality.

"Look," he said gently. "Some things are personal to me and I don't want to discuss them with the wider world. There are some things you and I shared that I wouldn't tell to outsiders. I know you're curious but could you please respect my need for privacy with some things and not be angry because I'm not pouring my hearts out to you."

Clara nodded and the Doctor squeezed her arm.

"If Rose is here, I want us all to work together and have a harmonious relationship. I don't want the past intruding on that. Alright?"

"Yes, Doctor."

"Thank you," the Doctor said. "Now, let me work on my console."

Clara nodded. She gave his arm a squeeze before walking out of the room. The Doctor watched her go and when she was gone; he shook his head sadly and let out another sigh before turning his attention back to the console.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

(Pete's World…)

How could she do this to me?" Pete asked the Doctor as they headed towards the Dimension Cannon room. "She didn't say where she was going, didn't tell me goodbye."

"I suspect it's because she didn't want anyone knowing she was leaving," the Doctor said. "Just like leaving me a note, she doesn't want anyone convincing her to stay."

"And you're going to risk your life trying to find her?" Pete said.

The Doctor sighed.

"I love Rose. I don't know what I did to drive her away but I believe we can make it work and I'm not willing to give up on her just yet."

"What if you end up trapped over there?"

The Doctor shrugged.

"Then the universe has two Doctors. Despite what my other self thinks, it's big enough for both of us."

"Well, just know that I never blamed you for what happened and I thought you got a raw deal out of all this. Good luck with your search and if you find her, keep my daughter safe."

"I will," the Doctor said smiling.

Pete nodded and used his ID card to open the door to the Dimension Cannon.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

(London…)

Clara walked along the corridors with a few picture frames in her hands, trying to find Rose. Finally, she asked the TARDIS for help and the ship rearranged the corridors so it pointed right to Rose's room. She walked to the doorway and looked inside. Her room was a soft pink color with large roundels on the walls. Her bed was an oak four poster bed with white pillowcases and a white duvet on it. The bedside table and dresser were both made of oak as well as a small table near the en suite bathroom that had a small TV on it. In front of the TV was a tan recliner. Rose was sitting on the bed, staring at a photo in a gold frame. She looked up at Clara and smiled.

"Feel good to be back?" Clara said.

"Very good. I just wish the Doctor wasn't so distant," Rose said wistfully as Clara came into the room.

"I know what you mean. I brought a few photos of my Doctor so you can see what he looked like. I think he's the one between your Doctor and the one out there."

Rose took the frames from her. Both were medium sized pewter frames. In one photo, Clara was at the bottom left corner of the photo while the Eleventh Doctor leaned in beside her. He was smiling warmly and Rose could see his right hand on Clara's shoulder.

"He's young…was young," Rose said.

"Yeah. It feels strange seeing him so old now," Clara said.

"Where's his eyebrows?" Rose said.

Clara chuckled.

"They were very delicate. That's how he put it," she said wistfully, trying not to get emotional at the thought of her old Doctor saying that to her.

Rose looked at the other photo. This was showed their entire bodies. They were standing side by side with the Doctor's arm around Clara. Clara had on a red dress with a black belt and black boots. The Doctor was dressed in his Victorian outfit with the gold watch.

"He looks good," Rose said. "Even though this outfit is out of date, he wears it well."

"Yeah, it's amazing how handsome he looked in it," Clara said. "That's another thing I had to get used to, seeing him in a different outfit."

"Yeah, he went from leather and jumpers to suits and ties," Rose said, handing the frames back to Clara.

"Well, even if the Doctor doesn't appreciate you, I do," Clara said. "I've always wanted someone that I could share adventures with."

"Yeah, it's more fun with others," Rose said. "Because no one else will believe you."

"Well, I take care of two kids who know but the oldest is very cynical and she rolls her eyes most of the time when I tell her what I've been doing…and when I make soufflés."

While they were talking, the Doctor was standing in the shadows across from the door, watching and listening to them. He smiled as he listened. He didn't want to admit it but he was glad Rose had returned. Something seemed right about her being here again, like things had returned to normal in a way. And despite his vow not to get involved with his companions, he felt that old affection for both his girls returning. Finally, he decided to step up to the door, making it look like he just arrived.

"You know what?" he said to them. "I think repairs can wait. How about we find a nice restaurant and have a chat and get acquainted with each other."

"You don't have any money," Clara said.

"Well, this time I'm prepared and I can get some money," the Doctor said. "So come on, get up and get going. Let's go have an adventure."

Clara and Rose grinned at each other, hopped up and got ready to leave.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The Master grunted as he hit the ground. He and Xelok had made it through the crack in time and ended up somewhere in London. After he had taken over the General's body and slaughtered everyone except Xelok. Xelok landed several seconds after him and from the looks of things, he landed hard on his left side because he was groaning and holding his rib cage. The Master helped him up, slowly getting used to possessing this new body. He thought about possessing the attractive young guard but decided at the last minute to take the general. He figured the Doctor might recognize him and besides the General been an arse to him and deserved it. He looked down at the battle armor the General was wearing and snorted.

"Definitely will have to find some new clothing once this is sorted," the Master said to himself. "Are you alright?"

"Yes, Master," Xelok said.

He was still holding his aching side but the Master observed him and nothing seemed to be broken. He figured he could heal the boy if his rib cage was cracked or broken once they found the TARDIS. But first things first. He glanced up at the sky and made sure the crack was no longer visible before setting off with Xelok in search of some better clothes.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The clone Doctor felt himself coming together again and he felt something solid under his feet. He got his bearings, looked around and froze when he saw the TARDIS about fifty feet from him. His eyes widened when the TARDIS door opened and Rose came outside with a young woman and an old man.

"Right, time to find somewhere to eat," the older man said as he closed the door behind him.

"Okay, guessing that's the Doctor then," the clone said to himself as he watched them. "Don't know who the young woman is, probably his companion but I do know you, Rose, and you're going to listen to me and let me have my say before it's well and truly over between us."

He waited thirty seconds before he shadowed the three of them while they went off in search of somewhere to eat.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

"So, where should we go then?" the Doctor asked as he led Rose and Clara through London.

"Burger King with the amount of cash we have on hand," Clara said to him.

"I told you, I have ways of getting money, Clara," the Doctor said, looking over his shoulder.

"D'ya mean giving the people at the restaurant something precious, because I have a feeling I won't get my ring back this time," Clara quipped.

"Hardy har har, just keep watch, yeah?" the Doctor said as he neared a cashpoint.

The Doctor told them to stand nearby while he stood in front of the cashpoint embedded in the wall of a bank. Clara was about to ask him how he was going to get money out of it when he suddenly whipped out his sonic screwdriver and scanned the monitor. To her and Rose's horror, money started coming out of the dispenser.

"He is not doing that, he is not stealing from a cashpoint," Clara said to Rose.

"I think he is," Rose said, looking around while the Doctor grabbed the notes as fast as they came out and jammed them in his pocket. Finally, the notes stopped coming and the Doctor casually turned around and put his sonic back in his pocket.

"There, now we can eat something other than Burger King," he said to them.

"You just stole money," Clara said to him.

The Doctor gave her an exasperated look.

"Wanna say that louder, Oswald. The police didn't hear you clearly. And yes, I did steal but this bank probably steals more money than I do so do you want to go or do you want to have a morality discussion."

"He's done it before," Rose said to Clara. "It was a credit stick though."

"Yes and I did it when I was with Donna," the Doctor said to them. "Believe me, I've done much worse so are we going or not?"

"Lead on," Clara said.

"Thank you," the Doctor said before turning and walking away.

"This one's a handful," Clara said to Rose as they followed him.

"Isn't he always?" Rose said.

The Doctor rolled his eyes when he heard their giggling behind him.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, the clone Doctor was still keeping tabs on them, following at a distance and observing them. He was hiding in an alleyway when the Doctor was taking money from the cashpoint and when they walked on, he waited thirty seconds and then followed, using the London crowd as cover in case any of them looked back.

While he walked, he had no idea that he himself was being followed. The Master had been nearby and noticed the clone Doctor while he was coming out of a clothing store with Xelok. Both of them had changed into casual wear after having to explain to the shocked staff why he was wearing battle armor. He told them he was going to a fancy dress party but forgot his clothes. The lady attending him gave him a dubious look but helped him anyway and he was now dressed in jeans and a black t-shirt with black trainers. Xelok was dressed in jeans, a black t-shirt and white trainers. Now the Master was shadowing the clone Doctor while Xelok obediently followed him.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Ah, here we are," the Doctor said, stopping in front of an Italian restaurant. "Chez…Italian Food."

"Looks more like Bella to me," Clara said, reading the letting on the front window.

"Bella, Chez Italian, whatever. It's Italian food. Is that alright?" the Doctor said to them.

"Suits me," Rose said with a shrug.

"I could eat Italian," Clara said.

"Okay, everyone in then," the Doctor said.

He opened the front door and held it for the women then followed them inside. Italian music was playing softly through the sound system and there was Italian posters, flags and memorabilia on the walls. It was a bit garish for the Doctor's tastes but he was tired and didn't want to stray too far from the TARDIS. He waited with his companions at the front until a young man dressed in black trousers, white shirt and black vest came up to them with three menus.

"Bonjourno. Welcome to Bellas," he said. "Three?"

"Yes," the Doctor said.

The waited led them to a table near the back and gave them the menus. After everyone ordered a glass of white wine, the waiter went to get their drinks and allowed them time to look over the menu.

"So what are you ordering then?" Clara said to Rose as the Doctor studied his menu.

"Everything since Mister Moneybags has the funds for it," Rose said to her.

The Doctor eyed her while the women giggled.

"Good idea, I'll get everything as well," Clara said while the Doctor rolled his eyes.

"How about you order something and act your age?" the Doctor said to them.

"Act your age as in looking like you're in your late twenties and putting ice down someone's trousers," Clara said to him.

"I don't look late twenties any longer and I only did that to you once."

"He did that to me and ran away giggling like a maniac," Clara said to Rose, ignoring the Doctor.

"When I traveled with him, he looked like he was in his thirties and he used to tug at my hair when I wasn't paying attention to him," Rose said as she studied her menu. "Like a toddler looking for attention."

"Exactly. His other self was a hyper, clumsy little toddler yelling at everyone to look at him and see how brilliant he is."

They giggled when the Doctor lowered his menu and gave them an annoyed look.

"So…did you grow a heap of eyebrows to make up for no eyebrows before?" Rose said.

"Rose, shut it," the Doctor said while Clara sniggered.

"They're attack eyebrows, he told me so," Clara said in a loud whisper to Rose.

Rose grinned and touched his right eyebrow.

"I can't take you lot anywhere," the Doctor muttered, resuming his perusal of the menu while Rose and Clara giggled.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, the clone Doctor was standing near Bellas, discretely peering into the big picture window and watching his quarry. He stood there debating whether or not to go inside and confront Rose when suddenly a man and a little boy came up beside him.

"Excuse me, can you help us?" the man said. "My wife has been attacked. Do you know anything about first aid?"

"Yes," the clone Doctor said.

"Oh thank heavens, can you help us. We're ringing the ambulance but we want to make sure she's alright. She's in this alley," the man said, pointing to the alley next to the restaurant.

The clone Doctor turned his attention back to Rose. He debated whether to leave then decided that he could spare a few moments. He agreed and asked the man to show him the way.

The Master nodded and turned with Xelok, a huge smile on his face as he led the clone Doctor into the alley.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven

The Master stood over the unconscious clone and gazed at him in triumph. It had all been so easy. Just get him to talk to Xelok and when he wasn't looking, hit him with a discarded brick on the back of the head. He tried not to kill him or give him brain damage when he hit him, he wouldn't be useful that way.

Except, something was wrong. The Master had keen ears and he could hear the heartbeat of a Gallifreyan. He heard Xelok's double beat and it was soothing to him, he had to admit. But when he squatted down to examine the clone; he frowned when he heard only one beat of his heart. He got down on his knees and bent over until his ear was against the clone's chest.

"What the…" he said when his suspicions were confirmed.

He bent back up and stared at the clone in confusion.

"Why the hell would you only have one heart…"

Then it dawned on him and he grinned.

"So, mate, you decided to put your identity into a fob watch then?" he said to the unconscious Doctor. "Only reason why you would have one heart. You made yourself human, eh? And if you are, that means you're vulnerable and susceptible to my hypnotic influence. Oh, this is just brilliant! The Doctor as my puppet. At long last, I have him in my thrall. Xelok, help me carry him. We need to find someplace where we can have a bit of privacy!"

He directed the boy to grab his legs and he stood up and put his arms under the clone doctor's armpits. He and Xelok raised him up and looking behind him, the Master walked backwards out of the alley.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

(A half hour later…)

The Doctor, Clara and Rose walked out of Chez Bella on their way back to the TARDIS. All of them were unaware of what had just transpired outside the restaurant and there was no sign of the Master, Xelok or the Clone Doctor.

"Well, now that I've eaten, I can tackle the problem of fixing the console," the Doctor said as they walked. "You lot can spend the night partying or watching the telly or whatever it is women do when they're together."

"You're sure you don't want to join us?" Rose said as she walked by his side.

"I can't. I have to do this. You and Clara get to know each other. Once I get the console sorted out we can go somewhere. Is that okay?"

Rose nodded. Her eyes widened when the Doctor surreptitiously took her hand and squeezed it. She smiled and squeezed back, happy that he was willing to show a little affection at least. She wondered if she really could make him better the way she did before and with that knowledge, she fell into a comfortable silence with him and Clara as they headed back to the park.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The Master grinned as the clone Doctor sat on the side of the bed, completely in a trance. After convincing some hapless homeowner to let them into his house and let him phone for an ambulance for his injured friend, the Master killed the man and took over his house, taking his sweet time in hypnotizing and brainwashing his prey. He had managed to convince the human Doctor that he was really a ruthless, evil person but at the same time subservient to the Master so he could still be controlled.

He had done that while his captive was still unconscious, going into his mind and doing a bit of creative rewiring of the Doctor's mind. Now that the clone Doctor was awake, the Master was ready to test him and see if he really was evil.

"What is your name?" the Master said, hoping he would use the name Julius that he implanted into his mind.

It wasn't the greatest of names, the Master had to admit but he'd always admired Julius Caesar so he went with it.

The clone Doctor thought for a moment before speaking.

"Jul…"

He started to say his name but then cut himself off and fell back into thought. The Master shifted nervously, this wasn't a good sign if he couldn't even say his new name. Perhaps he needed to go back in and do a bit more work since there seemed to be signs of resistance already. Then the clone Doctor smiled a twisted smile.

"My name is the Valeyard," he said confidently.

The Master did a double take. He remembered that name. Long ago when the Sixth Doctor was on trial for his life. He had been intrigued by the thought of an evil Doctor then and wondered if there was a possibility that his adversary would really turn bad. Was he the one then that gave birth to this dark Doctor?

"Who is your master then?" the Master said, hoping fervently the answer would be him.

The Valeyard laughed, a laugh that sounded evil, impressively evil in the Master's opinion.

"I am no one's master," he said with a sneer.

"Oh shit," the Master muttered under his breath.

"I want to thank you, however. What you have done is awakened me. I am now manifest in this clone body."

"Clone?" the Master said, taken aback.

The Valeyard laughed again.

"I wasn't entirely unconscious, fool," he said to the Master. "I was conscious enough to hide my true nature from you and guide you towards awakening me. Seems even you can be controlled at times."

The Master felt his blood run cold.

"So the Doctor is still out there?" he said, dreading the possibility of two Doctors on his hands.

"Indeed. He isn't far away and he has something I want. Actually, several somethings come to think of it."

"The TARDIS?" the Master guessed.

"Well, yes, that's one of the things I desire. I also desire his companions and his lives. After I have his lives, you may have him and do whatever you want with him."

"So you're going to obey me then?" the Master said, hoping against hope.

He stepped back when the Valeyard jerked upwards to his feet.

"No, you're going to obey me, Master. I am superior to you in every way!"

Shit, the Master thought. I've created a monster. Still, I can pretend obedience and gain the upper hand over this arrogant prick.

"Very well, I will obey you, Valeyard," the Master said, bowing his head.

The Valeyard snorted and before the Master could do anything, he lunged at the stunned Time Lord and put his fingers against his temples, forcing himself into the Master's mind. The Master tried to resist but the Valeyard was too powerful for him, knocking down mental walls as fast as he was putting them up. The Master tried to fight him off but he could feel the Valeyard's darkness overwhelming his mind and after a moment or two the Master finally lost the battle and the Valeyard sneered as he began to reprogram the Master's mind and make him his slave.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

"Aha, finally some progress," the Doctor said as he finished his repairs. "Now, my Sexy, what do you say about taking a little road trip somewhere?"

He grinned when the TARDIS purred in response and he steepled his fingers and stood at the console, deep in thought. As he thought, he sensed someone at the back door watching him. Normally Clara would make her presence known so he guessed it was Rose, trying to be inconspicuous while watching him.

"Come in, Rose," he said aloud.

He smiled when he looked over his shoulder and saw Rose heading towards him.

"Yup, instincts are still in tip top condition," he muttered to himself as she came up beside him. "What? Bored with the TARDIS already?" he said.

"No, I just miss you. I want to get to know you better," Rose said with a shrug.

"Rose, I'm not your boyfriend anymore."

"I never said you was, Doctor. But you said we could be friends and I'm sure you can be that without being grumpy and sarcastic, yeah?" Rose said angrily. "If you don't want me here, chuck me out the door but don't dismiss me and act like I'm a burden to you. Clara told me your other self told her to stay with you and be your friend and I want to do the same. I get that we can't have a relationship anymore but that doesn't mean we can't talk to one another."

"I'm…sorry," Twelve said, putting his hands on the console rim and looking down at it. "Like I said, this is what I feared would happen if I regenerated. That someday I wouldn't love you the same way anymore. That's why I put you with my clone; the one I knew would love you the way you wanted to be loved."

"I couldn't love him the same way, Doctor," Rose said, shaking her head. "I tried, I honestly did but my heart wasn't in it. And even though you have changed, I still love you and I always will and I'm glad I'm here."

She noticed a small smile on the Doctor's face as he stared down at the console controls. She reached out and tentatively laid her hand on the back of his. Twelve glanced at her hand but didn't jerk his hand away.

"So, now that you're here, where do you want to go?" he asked her. "I'm out of ideas so I'll consult you. And since you're back, you get first pick."

"How about planet of the chips?" Rose teased.

The Doctor raised his eyebrow but to Rose's delight, he cracked a smile just as she hoped

"You and your obsession with chips," he said, shaking his head good naturedly. "I'm surprised your arteries aren't clogged with chip grease now."

"How about…somewhere beautiful. Somewhere a bit romantic…and I'm not saying that to rekindle our relationship," she quickly added when the Doctor eyed her. "I'm just in the mood for something beautiful."

"Yes but what? What do you want to see?"

Rose thought for a moment.

"A waterfall," she said to him.

The Doctor nodded, an idea forming in his mind. He started to power up when there was a knock on the door. The Doctor froze with his hand hovering above a switch for a few seconds before he glanced at Rose and both of them walked to the door. The Doctor opened it and did a double take when he saw his clone standing there with a man and a boy.

"I'm not so easily ditched, Rose," the clone said.

"Doctor, why did you do this?" Rose said to the clone.

"Because I don't think our relationship is beyond saving, Rose. I think we can work things out and I want to give it a chance."

"Who are they then?" Rose said, pointing to the man and the boy.

"Friends. They came with me because I needed their help finding you," the clone said mildly.

"I've never seen them before," Rose said, confused.

The Doctor looked at the man, thinking he had seen him before somewhere. He struggled to remember where when the clone looked at him.

"May I come inside for a moment?" he asked the Doctor.

The Doctor gave him a wary look and the clone sighed.

"My business is with her, I'm not trying to take over your TARDIS," he said, gesturing to Rose.

"Fine, come inside. I thought this sort of thing stopped when I lost Amy and Rory but come inside and have it out," Twelve said, stepping away from the door.

The Valeyard smirked and thanked him politely before telling the Master and Xelok to follow him inside. He could tell the Doctor was wary about him being inside the TARDIS and with good reason. However, he was going to pretend that he was here for Rose only and spring his trap when the Doctor's guard was down.

"So," he said to Rose as they walked towards the console. "This was your plan. Just jump in the dimension cannon and think I wouldn't care if you left."

"Doctor," Rose said, turning to the Valeyard. "I told you in the letter…"

"I know what you told me, Rose, but I'm not willing to let you go, not without a fight."

"Oh, Christ. Eastenders has come to my TARDIS," the Doctor muttered as he climbed the steps to his chair.

"Doctor, I don't love you. I mean I do love you but I'm not…"

"In love with me, yeah, yeah, yeah," the Valeyard said as Twelve sat down in his seat with a world weary sigh. "You never gave me a chance. You always expected him to come back and get you," he said, pointing up to Twelve.

"Leave me out of this, please," Twelve said as he stared up at the ceiling.

"No, I'm not leaving you out of this. You're the one that chucked her out with me and expected it to all work. You left her with a broken heart and that's why she's never been able to have a relationship with me."

"Fine! I'm to blame!" Twelve said grouchily. "I'm sorry. I thought you would both be happy. I can't go back and change the past. So what are you going to do now? Because it sounds like she doesn't want you now. She wants to go traveling with me."

"Take me with you then."

"What?" Twelve said, jerking his head around and looking down at him. "Oh no, no, no, we're not sharing the same TARDIS. You can make your own way in life. Stay here and defend this Earth since I'm pretty sure you won't be able to make it back without destroying both realities but I'm not flying the TARDIS with you being a back seat driver. There's too much ego between the both of us."

"Then I want Rose back."

"I'm not coming back," Rose said.

The Valeyard spun around and Twelve noticed Rose let out a gasp and he frowned when he noticed real fear on her face. What he didn't see was the dark black eyes and twisted expression of his clone as he confronted her. Twelve looked over and noticed the man and the boy hadn't moved from the door. Both of them were watching the confrontation but with blank looks on their faces.

"Doctor!"

Twelve's head snapped back around when he heard Rose cry out and he noticed his clone had seized her wrist and was jerking her roughly towards him.

"MINE!" he bellowed at her.

Twelve leapt up. He was about to go down the stairs when the Valeyard jerked Rose to his body and turned around to face him. Twelve froze when he saw the Valeyard had a dagger against Rose's throat and for the first time, he saw the insane look on his clone's face.

"Move and your beloved's blood is spilled all over the floor," the Valeyard growled at him.

"So it's happened, has it. Just what I feared would happen," Twelve said. "This is why I wanted him watched, Rose."

"Rose couldn't do anything to stop this. Besides, you need to blame the Master for awakening me," the Valeyard said. "Master, come here and say hello."

Twelve's head jerked over when the man came forward.

"Master, you have the Master under your thrall?" Twelve said in horror as the Master came up beside the Valeyard.

"Well, he was putting me under his thrall, except he awakened my dark side and unfortunately, I proved to be too much for the little weakling."

"So who's that then?" Twelve said, pointing to Xelok.

"Dunno, some kid that came with him. Anyway, shall we continue with the matter at hand or do you not care about Rose any longer, old man?"

"Let her go, deal with me and only me," Twelve said.

"But Rose is mine, you gave her to me and I have the right to do whatever I want with her," the Valeyard purred.

"No, you don't and if you even so much as spill a drop of blood, I'll tear you limb from limb," Twelve growled.

The Valeyard laughed evily and pressed the blade of the knife closer to Rose's throat.

"Come, darling, the old man wants us to leave now," he purred in Rose's ear.

"Not her, you!" Twelve said, pointing at him. "And only you, leave the Master and the child here as well."

"Why? You don't give a damn about them," the Valeyard said.

"He was my friend and I won't let you make a puppet of him, Rose or the child. Now let them all go and I'll come quietly."

"Call the other one in here," the Valeyard said.

"What other one?" Twelve said.

"Don't give me that. I followed you lot and there's another girl with you. Short with long brown hair. Call her in here or Rose dies."

"Tell Clara to come in here," Twelve said to the TARDIS.

"Now…slowly come down the steps. Slowly…" the Valeyard said.

He backed up with Rose, keeping the dagger on her throat while the Doctor slowly came down the steps. When he was near the console, the Valeyard ordered the Master to restrain him and the Master walked over, seized the Doctor's arms and immobilized him. Twelve gazed sympathetically at Rose when he saw she was trying to be brave, even though she was visibly frightened. Then his eyes darted over to the back door when Clara came through it and froze.

"Ah, here she is," the Valeyard said. "Come and join us…and that is not a request."


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine

"Doctor, what's going on?" Clara said as she came into the room. "Why is your other self here and why is he threatening Rose?"

"Oh, so you've seen me before, eh?" the Valeyard said to her.

"I've seen all your lives, Doctor. But I don't recall you being a knife wielding arsehole," Clara said.

"That's because I'm not the Doctor, dearie pie. Well, I am the Doctor in that I have the Doctor's body but I prefer to go by the name Valeyard."

He looked at Twelve when he heard the sharp intake of breath coming from him.

"Well, who'd you think I was, Geezer? Postman Pat?" he said to him. "As for you, come this way and no sudden moves or tricks or everyone dies."

"Do as he says, Clara," Twelve said.

Suddenly, without warning, the Valeyard pushed Rose into Twelve. Twelve caught her at the same time the Valeyard yelled to the Master to back away and threw a small black ball onto the floor behind Rose. There was a flash of light as the Master backed up to the stairs and Twelve and Rose grunted as a tight force field sprang up around them, pinning them together.

"There, you lot are sorted for the moment," the Valeyard said as he turned to Clara. "And now for you, little one. My, my, you are pretty. I might add you to the harem. I did think about going and collecting the Doctor's female companions for that purpose. Perhaps I might do that. Come on, come on, come little doggie, come to your new master," he said, wagging his finger at Clara.

Clara slowly walked towards him while the Valeyard spoke to her condescendingly as if calling to a dog. Then when she was ten feet from him, she suddenly whipped a small blaster out of her pocket and fired it at him. The Valeyard grunted as a stun laser hit him and he fell to the floor.

"Get her, you fools!" he yelled at the Master and Xelok while Clara bolted towards the door.

Clara fired the stun laser at Xelok who was still standing by the door. Xelok convulsed and Clara felt guilty as the boy fell to the ground, stunned. She leapt over him while Twelve urged her on. As she ran to the door, she mentally asked the TARDIS to help her and she felt something materialize into her right hand. She didn't look at it as she gripped it but she thought it might be a mobile phone as she cannoned into the front doors and forced them open. She kept on running, breathing a sigh of relief when the Valeyard yelled at the Master to forget her and close the doors. She kept on running for another five minutes until she couldn't run any more. Then she stopped and caught her breath and looked down at her hand. It was a black mobile phone, a simple no-frills model. She studied it for a moment and then turned it on. When the mobile was up and running, she was surprised to see it calling a number on its own. She put the phone to her ear and waited.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

(A year in the past…)

The Eleventh Doctor was by himself inside the TARDIS. Clara had just left him to go take care of Artie and Angie and make sure they were okay after their ordeal on Hedgewick's World of Wonders. He wanted a shower and a rest in order to recover from his own ordeal of having Mister Clever inside his mind. He was about to leave the console room when he suddenly heard the TARDIS phone ringing.

He groaned as he walked towards the front door.

"Gotta remember to patch that bloody thing back through the console," he muttered to himself as he opened his front door.

He opened the little door and picked up the phone receiver.

"Hello?" he said.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Clara's breath caught in her throat when she heard the voice of the Doctor she still missed terribly.

"Hello?" Eleven said when she didn't answer.

Clara swallowed hard, forcing herself to speak.

"Doc…tor," she got out.

"Clara? Is that you? I just left you with Angie and Artie, are you alright? Are they okay?"

"Please…help me," Clara squeaked out as tears came to her eyes.

"Clara, what's wrong?" Eleven said in a gentle voice that Clara had been longing to hear from her new Doctor.

"I'm with your other self and this man called the Valeyard kidnapped him and Rose and two other people."

"What?" Eleven said softly. "Valeyard, Rose? Clara, where are you? Where are they?"

Clara gave him the date and location and the Doctor promised to come immediately. Clara ended the call and wiped the tears from her eyes as she waited for the familiar sound of the TARDIS. Two minutes later, she heard the wheezing sound and a cry of joy sprang from her throat as she watched the TARDIS materialize in front of her. The door opened and there he was, just as she remembered him. With another cry of joy, she ran to him and seized him around the middle, hugging him tightly. Her hearts leaped when the Doctor didn't push her away or tell her he wasn't a hugger but instead, enveloped her in his arms and kissed the top of her head.

"Clara, what's going on?" he asked her. "Where is Rose and the Valeyard?"

Clara pulled away. She had fresh tears in her eyes and she could see the loving and sympathetic look on his face that she had missed.

"This way, Doctor," she said.

The Doctor shut his doors and hurried to catch up, walking with her as she headed back towards the other TARDIS. On the way, she tried to explain what she knew about the situation and she saw Eleven's eyes darkened when she described what happened in the console room and what the Valeyard said to her.

"I had my fears this might happen when I left my clone with Rose," he said darkly when Clara finished. "Don't worry, Clara. We'll sort this out together."

They neared the TARDIS and Clara steeled herself for a fight. But to her horror, the TARDIS suddenly powered up and dematerialized in front of them.

"Damn it, I should have killed him when I had the chance," Clara said. "I only stunned the Valeyard."

"And that's good. I don't want you killing anyone, Clara," Eleven said, putting his hands on her shoulders. "Don't worry, they may have gone but we can use my TARDIS to track them. Come on."

Clara nodded. She turned and both she and Eleven ran back to his TARDIS.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

The Valeyard breathed a sigh of relief when the TARDIS was in the Vortex. HE glanced over at the Doctor and Rose, still pressed together inside the forcefield.

"Well, get on with it, you wanted to have a go at him, there's your chance," he said to Rose with a smirk.

"I should have let you die on the Crucible," the Doctor growled at him.

"Yeah, guess hindsights 20/20, eh?" the Valeyard said with a shrug. "Anyway, now that we are here, what are we going to do with you?"

"Make us have sex for your amusement?" the Doctor snarled.

"Hm, wasn't thinking about that but…intriguing. Nah, boring. I'd rather do a little experiment-ah!" he said as he walked over to the forcefield.

"What sort of experiment," the Doctor said, warily, while Rose watched the Valeyard over her shoulder.

"Ah, the sort of experiement I've been dying to do on Rose but never could because my conscience held me back. Now that the Master has relieved me of that, I need to know something."

"Don't you dare harm her!" the Doctor yelled at him.

"Did you know that you weren't entirely successful in getting rid of the Bad Wolf entity?" the Valeyard said.

"What?" the Doctor said.

"Yes. Apparently, some of it stuck around after you took the TARDIS energy out of her. Or…it was always there to begin with."

"What are you on about?" Rose said, trying not to sound terrified.

"What I'm on about, my darling, is you have something inside you that heals you quickly," the Valeyard said while Rose eyed him warily.

"And how do you know that?" the Doctor said.

"Because one day we were on assignment, tracking an alien and the git fired his blaster and hit Rose in the small of her back. I pulled her shirt up, ready to administer first aid when suddenly this golden glow surrounded the wound and to my utter amazement, the wound closed up and healed itself. Any guess as to what the golden glow looked like, old man? Because it looked very familiar to me."

"So…you're going to find out if this Bad Wolf thing still exists?" the Doctor said. "How? Killing her?"

The Valeyard grinned. Suddenly, he whipped out his dagger and the Doctor gasped when he plunged it into Rose's left side, just under her ribs, as she screamed in pain. The Valeyard withdrew the dagger and stepped back.

"No!" the Doctor said, trying to hold Rose as she stared at him with shock and fear. The Valeyard reached down, grabbed the ball and pulled it back, widening the forcefield. The Doctor lowered Rose to the floor and cradled her in his arms as blood poured from the wound.

"You idiot, what if you're wrong?" the Doctor yelled at the Valeyard.

"Then she dies," the Valeyard said with a shrug.

"Rose, hold on, there must be something that can heal you," the Doctor said, smoothing her hair back away from her face.

Then his eyes darted to the wound when he noticed a golden glow under her shirt. He pulled her shirt up and watched in astonishment as the glow seemed to emanate directly from the stab wound. He heard Rose's labored breathing slow and return to normal as the wound was healed in front of his eyes. He looked up at the Valeyard who had a smug look on his face. When the wound healed, the glow stopped and the Doctor looked at Rose who was now lying calmly in his arms.

"Are you alright?" he asked her.

Rose nodded.

"See, I was right. Now, aren't you the least bit curious about what this Bad Wolf thing really is?" the Valeyard said. "Because it can't be the TARDIS, you took the power out of her. So what is it?"

"You're not killing Rose over and over just so you can find out," the Doctor spat at him.

"Alright then, here's my proposition. Rose is going to be tested in the lab in this TARDIS. Now, do you want to do it or shall I? Because if I do it, Rose will be in tremendous pain."

"What if the two of us leave her alone?" the Doctor said.

"Nope. This is not negotiable. Either you do it or I do. So, which is it?"

"And what do you hope to do once you discovered what it is? Enslave Rose the way you enslaved the Master and that child over there?" the Doctor said, pointing to the Master and Xelok who were standing motionless by the console. "You're going to drain her and get all encompassing power or something like that?"

"I really haven't decided yet. I prefer to take it one step at a time and just see what's within her. Then we'll go from there. So…do you want to run the tests then?"

"I don't have a choice," the Doctor snarled at him.

"No, you do have a choice but if I did it, it wouldn't be pleasant for Rose. After all, I'm filled with blood and anger and revenge, yes? Wouldn't want me taking my anger out on your lovey-dovey there, right?"

"You don't know what you're dealing with, Valeyard," the Doctor growled at him.

"Oh yes, I know, the Oncoming Storm," the Valeyard said, rolling his eyes.

"No, it's not just me. It's him as well," the Doctor said, nodding his chin at the Master.

The Valeyard glanced at the Master and chuckled as he looked back.

"Yeah, so? He's under my control," he said smugly.

"Yeah, right. The most dangerous mind in the universe besides mine and you think you're able to contain it. You're a fool, Valeyard, and your overconfidence will be your undoing."

"And your emotional attachment to Rose will be yours," the Valeyard snarled at him. "See, already you're volunteering to not only be my prisoner but to experiment on her, all in the name of keeping her safe and protected."

"And with that statement, I can see you're underestimating me as well," the Doctor said.

"Yeah, right. Like I haven't thought this all through beforehand? I have ways of keeping you under control, Doctor. Just like I have ways of keeping him controlled as well," the Valeyard said, gesturing to the Master.

The Doctor shook his head.

"You can't be me," he said. "I would never hurt Rose, I would never enslave others, I'm not a megalomaniac."

He gritted his teeth when the Valeyard roared with laughter.

"Okay, do I even have to say this?" he said while the Doctor glowered at him. "First thing, you hurt Rose when you tried to leave her behind when you were on the Gamestation and you hurt her when you shoved her out the door with me. You may not have physically hurt her but emotionally hurt her, that's a far different story, Gramps. As for enslaving people, you have been doing that since you started traveling."

"In what way?" the Doctor barked at him.

"In the way that you get people to idolize you so much that they follow you and do whatever you want and sacrifice themselves in your name. you may not call it slavery but slavery comes in all forms. Rose risked her life and two universes just to get back to you because she can't stand to be without her master."

"Fuck you," Rose muttered which made the Doctor smile.

"As for being a megalomaniac…please, mate, your ego is the size of Jupiter," the Valeyard said with a chuckle. "I mean that's why you broke the law about not interfering, yeah? Because your monster ego said to you, I can make the universe a better place! I am you in so many ways, Doctor, but you just deny it and pretend you're a boy scout. And then there's people like Blondie here who reinforce that and tell you you're a good person as you leave a trail of blood behind you everywhere you go. I did what you do all the time, Doctor. I killed the Daleks who were frankly going to kill everyone else and I GOT PUNISHED FOR IT!" he roared. "You are a hypocrite, old man! You're closer to me than you think you are. It didn't take that long for the Master to awaken me and it wasn't that hard. So please stop lying to me, Rose and yourself. You are me and I am you…Doctor!"

Rose looked up at the Doctor who was now stunned into silence. She turned her attention back to the Valeyard, her expression one of pure hate. The Valeyard grinned and shrugged.

"I tell the truth, darling. That's why he isn't giving me one of his nasty wisecracks in return. Still…enough talk," he said, slapping his hands together. "Let's get down to business, shall we?"


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

This felt so surreal to Clara. Earlier today, she'd been standing in the TARDIS with the twelfth Doctor and now here she was, back with the Eleventh. She was trying not to get emotional but it was hard to look at him without a rush of memories coming back to her.

Not to mention the words of the Twelfth coming back to her.

"I'm not your boyfriend, Clara."

"I never said it was your mistake."

Did that mean that this Doctor…he really did love her as more than a friend?"

The Doctor made it clear to her upon entering that she couldn't tell him anything from the future. That he didn't want to know…apart from one thing…

"Am I ginger?" he asked her.

"Um…no, you're not."

"Damn! Damn, damn, damn, when am I going to be bleedin' ginger?" he said while Clara watched, bemused. "Alright, that's enough. Don't want any more foreknowledge. Although, you could suggest to the other me that he get his hair colored. Just so, you know, he could say he was ginger."

"Yeah, I'll pass that on when I see him," Clara said.

And now here they were, together again, just like old times. It was like slipping on a comfortable old shoe. It just felt right being here. Suddenly, she was entertaining thoughts of just staying with Eleven and leaving Twelve behind. But then she realized that would never work since the other her was still with him and besides, Eleven made her promise to go with Twelve and be his companion and she was determined to keep that promise.

"Okay then," Eleven said as he watched the monitor. "We have a lock on them as they're traveling through the vortex."

"So we can overtake them?" Clara asked.

"Not here, have to wait till they land," Eleven replied, shaking his head. "Too dangerous to overtake them inside the vortex, things can go wrong."

"But we can follow them wherever they go, yeah?"

"Yup. Unless the Valeyard is clever enough to find a way to throw us off the scent," he added after a moment's thought. "I must warn you, Clara. The Valeyard is me, only an evil heartless version. Think of me without any pity or remorse or conscience."

"So he's depraved?"

"Yes, that would be an apt description of him," Eleven said with a nod.

"So we better stick together then, yeah?"

"Yes, otherwise we might fall into his trap. Working together, that's the key," the Doctor said.

"Doctor, he said that Rose was in love with you. Are you still in love with her?"

Eleven lowered his eyes to the console and stared at it.

"I think you do. You seemed distressed when I mentioned her and the Valeyard and the Valeyard looks like the one who fought the Zygons with us. Rose said that you left him with her because it was a way of leaving yourself so she could be loved for the rest of her life."

"I love many people, Clara," Eleven said, glancing at her before looking back down at the console. "There are many people who are precious to me, some more than others."

"And Rose fits into the some more than others category?"

The Doctor hesitated for a moment before nodding. Clara walked over and put her hand on his shoulder, causing him to look up at her.

"If you're trying to keep it a secret, I won't tell," Clara said.

"Thank you," Eleven said, smiling.

Clara wondered if she was in the some more than others category as well but kept her thoughts to herself. Instead, she went and sat down and waited with the Doctor for the other TARDIS to land.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The Doctor and Rose walked along the corridor behind the Valeyard. He was holding the ball in his hand and the forcefield was still around the two of them, forcing them to walk with the Valeyard while the Master and Xelok walked behind them. By now, Rose had recovered and she was holding hands with the Doctor, something the Doctor allowed her to do under the circumstances. His mind was racing, trying to come up with tests he could do that wouldn't hurt Rose while he tried to think of a way to overpower the Valeyard and escape. He was settling on a preliminary scan and a blood test and hoped that would take some time. To be honest, he was a bit shaken from watching Rose nearly die and it was hard to think straight. Not to mention the realization that something was still inside her both fascinated and terrified him. From what he could see, it hadn't had any adverse effects on her and it seemed to be both benign and protective of her. But something powerful enough to heal a stab wound had no business being in the Valeyard's clutches and he was fully prepared to protect and possibly regenerate for Rose to see that he didn't get the Bad Wolf.

They entered the lab and the Valeyard led them to the center of it before putting the ball down. He left some room for him to move around while he puttered around the lab, pulling things out of drawers while he whistled cheerfully.

He pulled out two small discs that the Doctor recognized as smaller forcefield barriers and he watched as he walked over to the door and put them on either side of the doorway in the corridor. Then he walked back in and rifled through the drawers again before pulling out two thin metal collars. The Doctor recognized those as well.

"So you're going to put shock collars on us and bar the door so we can't wander around," he said to the Valeyard.

"Correct. And I'm going to be monitoring you as well so if you slack off…bzzzzt!" the Valeyard said, shaking his body as if an electric shock had seized him. "So be on your best behavior or I'll be in here running the tests…and trust me, you don't want that."

The Doctor glowered at him and balled his fists as the Valeyard whistled cheerfully and continued to set up the lab.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

Finally, the Doctor was left alone with Rose inside the lab. Both of them submitted to having the shock collars put around them and being barred into the room. Interestingly enough, the Doctor noted, nothing was taken from the room including sharp objects that could be used to fight someone. But then he surmised that not only would the Valeyard use the shock collars on them if they resisted but he'd probably send the Master and Xelok in as well.

The Doctor figured he might as well keep up appearances and decided on a preliminary scan of Rose. He had her lie down on a gurney and wheeled it over to a large scanning device mounted in the ceiling. He positioned the gurney under it, told Rose to lie still and relax and used a remote to bring the scanner down so he could operate it. The scanner was about six feet long with a flat bottom that was similar to an X-ray. The Doctor pushed a button and a thin laser beam started at Rose's head and scanned across it, moving slowly down her body while the Doctor waited. Once the scan was complete, a holographic representation of Rose was formed and it floated up above her real body. Rose watched with silent fascination as the Doctor waved his hand and the skin of the Rose hologram faded away to be replaced by her musculature. He studied the muscles intently, slowly walking around the table, checking to see if anything looked amiss. When he was satisfied that the muscles were okay, he waved his hand again and the skeletal system came up. Again, he walked around the hologram, pausing at the right leg when he noticed a small fracture that had healed up.

"What's this from?" he asked Rose, pointing to the fracture on her shin.

Rose raised her head and looked where he was pointing.

"I got that when I was a teenager," she said, lowering her head back down. "Went out for a ride one night with a few friends. Unfortunately, one of them was drunk and he went off the road and hit a pole. My friends were injured severely but I came away from it with just a fracture to my leg. Was in a wheelchair for a few weeks.

"This drunk friend wasn't Mickey, was it?"

"No. Actually, Mickey was in the back and broke his leg as well, worse than mine actually. My drunk friend had massive head injuries, a broken leg and cracked ribs, he was the worst."

The Doctor nodded and continued to circle the gurney. When he was done, he waved his hand and looked at her vascular system.

"Apart from the fracture, I see nothing wrong yet," the Doctor said to her.

He waved his hand again and looked at her organs.

"I don't see any evidence of anything living inside you," the Doctor said, "Everything seems okay."

He reached up and pushed another button and several connected sheets of paper came out of a slot that had more information on it. The Doctor gathered up the sheets into a bundle and looked through them while Rose watched him.

"You have a bit of plaque buildup in your arteries, Rose. Better mind the chips," he said to her. "But still, nothing that's out of the ordinary here. I suppose I could try a blood test. You can sit up if you like."

Rose sat up on the gurney while the Doctor walked over to the counter. He lay the report down and gathered what he needed onto a small metal trolley. When he was done, he wheeled the trolley back over to her and tied a rubber tourniquet around her right arm. He felt for a vein, found one near her elbow and drew some blood while Rose watched. He took two small vials and took the needle out while Rose winced a little. He secured a wad of gauze over the insertion point and put a plaster over it before he took the vials over to a small machine sitting on the counter. It looked like a microwave with any glass in the door. He opened the door, inserted one of the vials into a holder and closed it. He pushed a button by the side of the door and the machine hummed to life as he sat the other vial down next to it.

While he waited, he had a sudden thought.

"Question," he said, turning to Rose. "Do you remember the nanogenes?"

"Yes," Rose said.

"Okay then, question, did you ever come in contact with the nanogenes?"

"Yes. When I was with Jack on his ship the first time I met him," Rose said.

"And what happened?"

"My hands were injured. They had rope burns after I hung about on that barrage balloon. I was in his ship and these nanogenes healed my hands."

"And did they give off a golden glow while they were healing ya?"

Rose thought and her eyes widened as she nodded.

"You think it might be that?" she said to him.

The Doctor hesitated for a moment before he opened a drawer and took out a scalpel.

"Rose, I told you I wouldn't hurt you but will you allow me to do something in order to test out my theory."

"I trust you, Doctor. Do what you have to."

"I won't hurt you too much and…"

The Doctor reached inside another drawer and pulled out a small brown bottle.

"I have something that will heal the cut if my theory is proved incorrect," he said.

He carried the scalpel in his right hand and the bottle in the left. He noticed that Rose was watching him without any fear at all and he thought about what the Valeyard had implied, that his companions would let him do whatever he wanted to them without any qualms, how they had total and complete trust in him and he had to admit it was scary to think he had this much sway over Rose that she would agree to his idea even though she had no idea what he was going to do with the scalpel.

He sat the scalpel and bottle down on the trolley and used some of the alcohol to clean Rose's right palm. After he was done with that, he picked up the scalpel and told Rose to remain calm and hold still. Rose drew in her breath as he used the scalpel to make an inch and a half cut on her palm. Then he sat the scalpel back down on the trolley and mopped up some of the blood with another piece of gauze while he waited. At first nothing happened and then after thirty seconds, the palm started to glow. The Doctor leaned in close, staring intently at the glow while Rose's palm was repaired.

"I don't see any nanogenes at all," he said to Rose while he watched the wound being healed. "They're not that tiny."

The wound was healed and the glow faded as the Doctor leaned back up and shook his head.

"If there are nanogenes present, they must be itty bitty because I saw nothing but the glow," he said to Rose. "But surely there's some other explanation besides some mystical force inside you."

He sighed and shook his head, flummoxed. Now he was also interested in what was inside Rose but not because he wanted it. He wanted to make sure whatever was inside her wasn't harming her in any way. He heard a small ding and turned back as the analyzing machine stopped and another series of interconnected sheets of paper came out of a slot in the side. The Doctor gathered up the papers when it was done and studied them as he walked back to Rose. Halfway to her, he stopped suddenly and Rose noticed him doing a double take before staring at something on the paper with wide eyes.

"I don't like the expression on your face, Doctor," Rose said.

The Doctor didn't answer. He went through the data with a bewildered expression on his face. Rose was tempted to ask him what was wrong but sensed he wouldn't say until he was ready. So she waited patiently, trying to remain calm as he finished reading the printout. He sat the readout down on the trolley and Rose frowned when he stared at her intently without saying anything.

"Doctor, am I alright?" she finally asked him.

The Doctor came closer. He glanced over his shoulder at a CCTV camera mounted by the door and positioned his body so it was blocking the view. Then he raised his hands to Rose's head and put them against her temple. Rose's eyelids fluttered and then they closed as the Doctor entered her mind and began to search. Rose frowned as she felt his consciousness inside her memories and she tried to resist it.

No, it's alright, the Doctor thought to her after setting up a mental barrier around her mind to keep out the Valeyard, just relax, I won't hurt you.

What are you doing, she thought back.

Rose, I came in here to find out something but also to speak to you privately, he thought back. I read the results and you have Time Lord DNA spliced with human DNA.

Rose jerked her head in surprise but her eyes stayed close and the Doctor kept her steady as he probed her mind.

I don't know how but I have a theory that the glow is regeneration energy, he thought to her. You haven't died so you haven't regenerated…if you even can regenerate. But somehow this energy keeps healing you and preventing you from dying.

So what do we do, Rose thought to him.

Well, we're going to try to keep this away from the Valeyard, that's for sure, the Doctor thought to him. But I also want to try something. I want to try to open your mind so we can speak to one another telepathically. I also want to shield your mind from the Valeyard so he can't hurt or influence you in any way. Just remain calm, Rose, while I do this.

Rose kept still while the Doctor pressed further into her mind. He began to construct a neural pathway that would allow him to access her mind and communicate with it, hoping that there was enough Time Lady in her that she could do it. He also threw up mental barriers around her mind, shielding and protecting it from the Valeyard and other outside influences but allowing himself a way to gain access if he needed to. As he did this, he mentally heard some of her thoughts and had a few flashes of memory as he weaved in and out of her subconscious.

I love you, Doctor.

The Doctor smiled softly when he heard her consciousness say that to him as he expertly navigated her subconscious. He knew he had to work fast before the Valeyard grew suspicious of the silence and he quickly did what he needed to do before sealing her mind closed from the Valeyard's influence. He pulled back out and Rose opened her eyes and smiled at him.

Can you hear me, Rose, the Doctor thought to her.

Yes, Rose thought back.

Good, now we have a way to communicate without Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know overhearing us, he thought to her. I better keep working before he comes in here.

Rose nodded and the Doctor mentally touched her mind in a comforting way, glad for her mental presence after being without the mental comfort of his people. He went on with his tests, thinking up a few new ones but knowing that Rose might be part Time Lady like River was excited him. Because he realized that perhaps, like River, he might be able to love Rose completely after all.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen

"Come on, damn it, land!"

Clara watched the Eleventh Doctor's frustration as he stared at his monitor. They were still inside the vortex, tracking the other TARDIS but it'd been a half hour or more and no landing of any kind. The Doctor was growing more frustrated with each passing moment and Clara wished there was something she could do to help.

"Are you sure he doesn't know we're following him?" Clara finally asked him.

"I don't know, Clara. He might. He's not a fool and the TARDIS can signal him if something is following him. We may have to be the ones to force a landing somewhere, tempt him out of hiding and make him pursue us."

"Great, just lovely," Clara said, rolling her eyes.

The Doctor stepped away from the monitor and paced around the console, deep in thought while Clara stepped back and watched him.

"Need somewhere where there aren't a lot of people. Somewhere where we can put up a stand against him," he murmured as he walked around the console.

"Why not ask the TARDIS to select something," Clara said to him.

The Doctor stopped near her and nodded.

"Old girl, I need your help. Can you find somewhere where we can fight the Valeyard?" he said to the TARDIS.

The TARDIS was silent for a moment before the Doctor felt her change course. Then the TARDIS grunted something and the Doctor frowned.

"What'd she say?" Clara asked him.

"She said it's time I fulfilled a promise I made long ago," the Doctor said.

"What promise?" Clara said.

"What promise?" the Doctor repeated loudly as he stared up at the ceiling.

Clara listened but there was no sound apart from the usual wheezing and grinding sounds she'd come to associate with the TARDIS. The Doctor sighed and shook his head.

"No answer, apparently it's a wait and see sort of situation," he said to her.

"Well, can you think of any promises you made?" Clara said.

The Doctor chuckled.

"Made a lot of promises over 2000 years, Clara," he said to her. "Not sure if I remember them all. Like I said, we'll wait and see. For now, we need a strategy."

"Lure the Valeyard out of hiding and thump him on the head with a brick?" Clara said hopefully.

The Doctor chuckled.

"I would love for that to be the solution but I have a feeling it'll be bit more complicated than that," he said. "Remember, he's me so…"

"So all we have to do is throw a bowl of fish fingers and custard his way and then hit him with a brick," Clara said, snapping her fingers.

The Doctor grinned at that which warmed Clara's hearts. The other Doctor probably would have rolled his eyes and told her to be serious. That's what she missed about her relationship with this Doctor, the camaraderie and joking around.

"Aha, here we are," the Doctor said as the TARDIS landed and powered down.

"Where are we then?" Clara said.

"Um…London," the Doctor said, glancing at the monitor.

He then froze with a stunned expression on his face.

"No, wait, you can't be serious," the Doctor said while Clara watched in silent confusion. "No, no, no, not right now, pick another place to go!"

"Why? What's wrong?" Clara asked.

"I know what the promise is," the Doctor said.

"What is it?"

"It's London in the year 2175. I'm here to find my granddaughter," the Doctor said.

"Granddaughter, you have a granddaughter?" Clara said.

"Yeah. Susan. I left her here after the Daleks invaded the Earth. There weren't that many survivors left and she fell in love with a man, one of the resistance fighters, so I left her here with him because I felt it was better for her to be with a man she loved than wasting her time traveling with me."

"Rose," Clara said. "Rose said you…"

"Yeah, I did the same to Rose. I left her behind with a man she loved because I felt it was better for her to be with him than traveling with me. As you can see, I'm quite repetitive in my thinking. And like Susan, I left her there against her will because I made the decision for her. I did try to ease Susan's distress by telling her that one day I'd come back but I'd moved on and never gave it another thought. The TARDIS, however, seems to have decided for me. Which means I put another person I love in danger now," he said loudly to the ceiling. "How is this going to help us if she gets captured?"

He waited for the TARDIS to reply and sighed angrily when there was nothing but silence.

"Well, come on then. I'm sure if we don't go outside, the TARDIS will take all the air out of the room and make us go," he said, beckoning to her. "Watch, I open the door and there she is, saying Grandfather to me just like the old times. I suppose you want me to fetch Ian and Barbara as well," he said loudly to the ceiling as he and Clara walked towards the front door.

The TARDIS waited until both of them were outside and then she turned on a homing beacon on the console and sent a message to the Valeyard.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen

The Valeyard sat in the upper level seat, listening to the rotor while the TARDIS drifted through the vortex. He had considered watching his adversary on the monitor but since the TARDIS was recording the CCTV footage, he decided to take it easy, enjoy being back inside his TARDIS and review the footage later.

Besides, he was pondering a problem. He wanted the Doctor's lives but he also wanted the Bad Wolf power if such a thing existed. Could he combine the two of them somehow and harvest everything he wanted? It would be tricky but he felt sure if he set his mind to the problem, he could solve it. As for the Doctor and Rose afterwards, he hadn't quite decided on that. He thought about enslaving them both, at least enslaving Rose since the Doctor would be trickier. He glanced down at the Master and Xelok who were standing by the console motionless and grinned. Despite the Doctor's dire prediction, the Master was still in his thrall so perhaps he could enslave the Doctor's mind as well. That brought up another question, what should he do with his two mind slaves, add them to the ranks or destroy them. Decisions, decisions…

He was jolted from his thoughts when he heard a loud beeping coming from the console. He got up and walked down the steps as the CCTV footage on the monitor changed over into the circular Gallifreyan writing.

"Distress signal? Pish, I have no time for…"

Then he read who it was from and his eyes widened.

"I have Clara, come and get me if you can, Valeyard. The Eleventh Doctor," he read aloud.

He read the coordinates silently for a moment, processing the date and time.

"Hmm, a year after I left Susan behind. Wonder if she's there as well. More leverage for me," he said to himself. "That alone is worth taking the diversion, even if I really don't care about the other Doctor or little Miss Clara. However, if Clara has found him, perhaps I better immobilize them both. Can't have anyone ruining my plans now. Okay, Doctor, I'll take the bait then and make you sorry you challenged me."

He set course for London and left to check on Twelve and Rose.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The Eleventh Doctor opened the TARDIS doors and stepped outside with Clara.

"Hey, she isn't here," the Doctor said, looking around. "She isn't here! You failed!" he yelled at the TARDIS."

"That's because you have to go looking for her," Clara said as she shut the door.

"I don't wanna go looking for her; I have other things to do. Like trying to stop Rose from being violated and killed for one," he said. "Still," he said, looking at London behind them, "I see some progress has been made in the rebuilding."

They were parked by the Thames near the Palace of Westminster. The building looked a little worse for wear since the invasion but he could tell that repairs were being made to it and other buildings around them. But he couldn't see anyone, apart from him and Clara and the city was eerily silent.

"Please tell me some random Daleks didn't resurface and attack again," he said to her. "I have enough problems as it is."

He told Clara to wait a moment before going inside the TARDIS. To her astonishment, the TARDIS vanished from view five minutes after going inside. For a moment, she thought she'd been stranded until an invisible door opened and the Doctor stepped out of nowhere.

"What did you do?" Clara said as the Doctor closed the invisible door.

"Camouflage," he said to her. "When I went back inside for something, I noticed the TARDIS had sent a homing beacon to our mutual friend and since I don't want him having two TARDISes, I'm hiding this one."

"I didn't know you could do that," Clara said as the Doctor pulled a small plastic box out of his pocket. "Why don't you always do that instead of just leaving her sat around where everyone can see her."

"Because it's hard on her. It drains the power to keep her on invisible mode so I use it only when necessary."

"What's that?" Clara said.

"It tracks artron energy, the background energy that people gain after traveling in the TARDIS with me. This frees up my screwdriver in case I need it for something else. Now I programmed it to cancel out the two of us and now…I do see a artron signature close to us. So the TARDIS brought us nearly to Susan's feet. Come on, let's go find her."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

(Nearby…)

Susan yawned and stretched and stepped out of the abandoned house that she and David had been sharing since they started living together. It had been a long, grueling year for them and the rest of the resistance as they tried to pick up the pieces of their shattered lives and rebuild the world along with the rest of humanity.

Susan had volunteered to go to the communal garden and gather a few vegetables while David went to the meat market to get something to eat. The food wasn't plentiful but they had managed to scrape by and rebuild the infrastructure enough that meat was being shipped in from the countryside and vegetable gardens all over London were thriving. It was a good sign that things just might return to normal now. In fact, Susan was sure it was since she had been to the future and saw the Earth repopulated and strong again.

Thinking of traveling with the Doctor made her heart ache. Ever since her grandfather left her, she'd struggled to get over the shock and hurt of seeing him go and find a future with David. But her grandfather had been her whole life up till then and she missed him terribly along with Ian and Barbara. She wished every day that he'd keep his promise to return for her but she somehow doubted he would. She knew him better than anyone else and she had a sense that when he said goodbye to her, that was it and she'd never see him again.

As she hurried away from the white brick house, she caught sight of two people coming towards her. Both were young, except one was dressed oddly in Victorian clothes and holding some sort of plastic box in his hand and the other was a young girl wearing jeans and a blue t-shirt. Susan held her black, wool coat tightly against her to stave off the morning chill and smiled warmly at them.

"Good morning," she said to them. "Going to collect food?"

The man looked up from his box and froze, an odd look on his face. The woman stopped and looked at him and then looked at her.

"Susan?" the woman said.

Susan frowned. She didn't recognize either one of them.

"Yes?" she said hesitantly. "What do you want?"

The man seemed to recover from his shock and walked over to her, a tender smile on his face while the woman followed him.

"Susan, it's me, the Doctor," he said when he stopped a few feet in front of her.

Susan opened her mouth to ask Doctor who, then it hit her when she realized only one person would walk around in Victorian clothes in 2175.

"Grandfather?" she said hesitantly.

"Yes, Susan, it's me."

"You're young," Susan said. "You look as young as David."

"Yes, well, the other body wore out and I regenerated…several times since we last met. It's good to see you again, my child."

Susan grinned and Clara smiled when she ran towards him and embraced him. The Doctor returned the embrace and kissed her cheek.

"Oh my God, Grandfather, you did come back for me," Susan said.

"Yes, I did. However, I need your help and probably David's help as well if he's around. Can we talk somewhere?"

Susan nodded.

"Come inside the house and I'll make some tea," she said to them.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen

Eleven and Clara were led into a huge parlor at the front of the house. The wooden floors hadn't been waxed in a long time and had lost their shine. The floral wallpaper was peeling in places and there was cracks in the ceiling and a few cracks on the glass in the windows. But it was still better than the Doctor expected. The furniture was ramshackle, old and used and mismatched but still sturdy and serviceable. There was a granite fireplace on the left side of the room with a small fire going. There was a large pile of wood beside it and Susan added a couple of logs and stoked the fire until there was some warmth inside the room.

Susan asked them to sit down while she made some tea. The Doctor sat down in a battered purple recliner near the fireplace while Clara chose an old faded sofa with floral print. She sat down and gasped when the cushions sank nearly to the floor and stood up and sat on the plump armrest instead.

"So, she's your granddaughter?" Clara said, trying to make small talk as the Doctor turned the recliner around and stared into the fire, deep in thought.

"Yes," the Doctor said as he stared at the flames.

"How old is she, she's young."

"Eighteen, I believe. You can ask her when she returns," the Doctor said, glancing at her.

"You left her behind when she was only eighteen?" Clara said shocked. "Here? In these ruins?"

She regretted her words when the Doctor bowed his head and she could see the guilt plastered on his face.

"I thought it was the right thing to do," the Doctor said softly as he stared at the floor. "Like I said, I've had a history of deciding what was best for the people I loved."

Clara remembered the Doctor trying to leave her behind when he was on Trenzalor and being furious at first when she showed up with the TARDIS three hundred years later.

"She was with David," the Doctor said as he continued to stare at the floor. "He was older, they were in love, the Daleks were defeated, I thought she'd be safe. Besides, she was spending too much time worrying about a doddering old man like me when she should be young and having fun."

"Is she a Time Lord then?"

"Time Lady and yes, she is," the Doctor said, looking at her. "But she's only on her first life, a child but still more intelligent than the average human. She went to your school actually, Coal Hill. I was parked nearby in Totter's Lane and her teachers, Ian Chesterton and Barbara Wright. They followed her one day because she was incredibly smart and they wanted to find out who she was. They stumbled into the TARDIS and I took them with us for a bit until they returned to London in 1965.

"Ian Chesterton? He's the head of governors at Coal Hill," Clara said.

"Oh? Tell him I said hello and tell him to tell Barbara I said hello," the Doctor said.

Clara was stunned by this revelation and made a mental note to talk to Ian one day and compare notes. She was about to probe further when Susan came back into the room carrying a huge tray laden with a pot of tea, cups and small cups of milk and sugar. The Doctor leapt up and hurried to her side, taking it from her and walking over to a small wooden table that was scratched and chipped. Clara stood up and the Doctor told everyone he'd be mother, waving Susan away when she tried to help him. He brought her a cup of tea with a smile as Susan sat down on a battered ottoman near the sofa. The Doctor gave Clara her cup of tea and turned the recliner back around to face them before retrieving his own cup.

"So, where is David then?" the Doctor said, sitting down in the chair with his tea. "He hasn't scarpered, I hope."

"No, he left earlier to go get food," Susan said. "He's still here and still watching out for me, Grandfather."

The Doctor raised his eyebrow when Clara giggled at that.

"I suppose I can guess but what's so funny, Clara?" he said to her.

"Sorry. Just funny hearing someone call you Grandfather when you're so young…young looking," she corrected herself.

"I'm nearly 2000 years old, I think I qualify as an OAP now," he said to Susan.

"2000," Susan said, shocked. "But I thought you were about 450 years old, Grandfather."

The Doctor cleared his throat.

"It's been ages since I saw you last, Susan," he said gently. "I'm now the eleventh version of the Doctor, not the first."

"You waited 1600 years to come and see me again?"

Clara winced when she saw the stricken look on his face and she could practically hear his hearts lurch in his chest. The Doctor sat the cup of tea on the floor beside the chair, got up and walked over to her. Clara smiled as he embraced her.

"Forgive me, my child," he said as Susan hugged him with one arm while holding her cup of tea out away from them. "I was busy. You understand that. That's why I wanted you to stop and settle down. Especially since I could see you were in love with David. I never meant to be away so long but one thing led to another and time passed and I supposed the TARDIS got tired of me not keeping my promise."

"I forgive you," Susan said as they ended the embrace. "I'm just glad that I only had to wait one year instead of 1600 but…that means that Ian and Barbara…"

"They left not long after you did, Susan," the Doctor said as he walked back to his seat. "We fought the Daleks again and they had a time machine of their own and Ian and Barbara used it to go back to London. I was traveling with another young girl called Vickie and we were able to see them and see that they made it back to London. In fact, Ian is head of the governors at Coal Hill and Clara works there as…English teacher, was it?"

"Yes," Clara said to Susan, nodding.

"What year?" Susan said.

"2013."

"50 years from my time there," Susan said. "And so you're the latest one to travel with Grandfather?"

"Yes, I am."

"Is there anyone else?" Susan asked.

"No, it's just me and him at the moment," Clara said. "So, you're helping to rebuild London then?"

"Yes. The survivors are trying to do it. There's probably about 400,000 here in London. Not sure how many across the world but the Daleks devastated the entire planet."

"I met the Daleks…well, one Dalek. We…went inside it," Clara said, wondering if she was saying too much.

The room fell silent except for the crackling of the fire. Clara noticed both the Doctor and Susan were staring at her in a stunned silence.

"You went inside a Dalek?" Susan said. "With Grandfather?" she added, nodding her chin at Eleven.

"Not me, I've never been inside one before," the Doctor said.

"I'm not actually traveling with him at the moment. I mean I am but I'm actually traveling with the next version of the Doctor but there's been a problem and this evil version of the Doctor kidnapped this woman called Rose and tried to kidnapped me and my other Doctor's TARDIS summoned this Doctor and…"

"Clara, I think you lost Susan back at the beginning of your long winded explanation," Eleven said when he saw the confused look on Susan's face. "She's out of sync with time at the moment," he explained to Susan. "There is a cloned version of me that has become evil and does have another companion of mine and the future me at his mercy. Clara asked for help and was instructed to call me so here I am. The evil me is coming here and apparently the TARDIS not only wanted me to find you but to make a stand here. Perhaps the resistance might help us?"

"I can ask for a meeting, Grandfather, but I'm not in charge," Susan said. "We do have a council and it'd be up to them whether they'd fight for you. But as for me, you can rely on me and I'm sure David will help as well."

"Thank you, my dear. I think at this point in time we need all the help we can get."

"So, this evil Doctor is coming here then," Susan said.

"I think so. The TARDIS sent a homing beacon to the other TARDIS so I think she wants him to come here. If there are only 400,000 people here, there won't be many people around if he decides to start killing. If there are casualties and I'm hoping there aren't, we can keep them to a minimum. Do you have any way of defending yourself, my child?"

"We have guns but I know you frown on using them," Susan said.

"I wouldn't if they're used for defense but I'd rather no one died," the Doctor said. "But let's only use them as a last resort. We can use the terrain and our minds to try to defeat them first. I must warn you though, he has an old adversary of mine called the Master under his power and although I'm sure his hold on him is tenuous, he can still use him against us. There is a child as well but I don't see him as a threat unless he arms him. I'm hoping that perhaps I can immobilize the Master so leave him to me if you can. You and Clara try to rescue the other me and Rose and concentrate on that."

Susan nodded.

"David should be back soon. When he returns, I'll ask him to go to the council and try to get a meeting for you."

"Thank you," the Doctor said.

He sipped his tea and smiled.

"Total devastation in London and there is still a decent pot of tea to be had. Gotta love the British," he said.

Susan and Clara chuckled and the three of them sipped their tea and made small talk while they waited for David to return.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter Sixteen

The Valeyard walked up to the doorway of the lab and peered in at his captives.

"Knock, knock," he said sweetly. "How are things progressing in here?"

The Doctor was running another scan on Rose's DNA while Rose sat up on the gurney. The Valeyard smirked at Rose and kissed the air when Rose glowered at him.

"Hello, Sugar Bumpkins, are we finding out what we are yet?" he said in a sickeningly sweet voice.

"No, we're finding out you're a git," Rose said.

The Doctor stood at the analyzing machine, trying not to smile. He glanced at the Valeyard and noticed the ire on his face and delighted in it. Rose was in peril and yet she still had the courage to stand up to the Valeyard. It was one of the things he'd always admired about her.

"I wouldn't be so cheeky, Rose, unless you want your tongue on the floor in front of you," the Valeyard said menacingly.

Rose shrugged and the Doctor felt he better intervene because he could see the Valeyard's annoyance and rage growing by the second. As much as he admired her courage, the last thing he wanted was to see Rose shocked into unconsciousness or worse. So he stepped in front of the doorway, making the Valeyard focus on him.

"Haven't found anything conclusive," the Doctor said, deciding not to let on that she had Time Lady DNA in her system. "As for the Bad Wolf and the miraculous healing you saw, my theory is nanogenes are inside her body and they heal her every time she's injured. But that's also inconclusive since I can't see the nanogenes with my own eyes."

"What about you data? Show me the data," the Valeyard said.

"Not yet, I'm still compiling it," the Doctor said mildly.

The Valeyard snorted.

"You're lying, old man," he said to him.

"Believe what you want to believe, I don't care," the Doctor said flippantly.

"If you're lying, you'll both suffer," the Valeyard growled at him.

"Oh, look at you, the big grown up Time Lord throwing a childish little fit and threatening people like a cowardly little bully if you don't get your way," the Doctor sneered at him. "You may harm us but you won't do much to us because you enjoy having us as your prisoners. Not to mention you still have Clara to find and trust me, if she finds out we're dead, you're gonna have a short, bossy, bad tempered woman to deal with and even you don't want that!"

"Oh please, I can handle that bitch," the Valeyard said.

"Really? Because she's scattered throughout my timeline and I'm pretty sure she's helped fight every villain I've ever faced. But barring that," the Doctor said gleefully as he pointed a finger at Rose. "This one over here got angry when I was threatened by the Daleks and disintegrated them out of existence. So if I were you, I wouldn't arouse her wrath either."

"You said the Bad Wolf wasn't there," the clone said.

"No, Mister Thickety Thick, I said the tests were inconclusive. I never said the Bad Wolf wasn't there so if I were you, I'd play nice," the Doctor said, smirking.

The Valeyard glared at him for a moment and then chuckled.

"What now?" the Doctor said. "Have you thought of a funny joke?"

"Yes, I have. Because I am tracking another TARDIS with presumably another Doctor inside it," the Valeyard said. "And guess where we're landing?"

"Vinnie Valeyard's World of Fun?" the Doctor said.

"No, London in the year 2175. Which is about ten years after the Daleks invaded London, is it not? Which is also…where you left Susan?"

"YOU LEAVE HER ALONE!" the Doctor roared at him as he ran up to the forcefield.

"Oho, suddenly Mister Smirky has lost his arrogance and wisecracks," the Valeyard said gleefully. "No, I won't leave her alone, especially since the other TARDIS seems to be there. And we can't have one of your companions wandering off when there still might be stray Daleks about. That wouldn't be very pleasant for her, yeah? So…how's about this? You and Wolfy Girl go and find her and bring Clara and possibly Susan and the other Doctor back here or…I go look for all of them and they die horribly, bloody deaths."

"And what's to stop us from joining up with them once we found them," the Doctor said to him.

"Hmmm, good point. Okay, you find them, I keep Wolfy here as a hostage."

"NO!"

The Valeyard chuckled at the murderous look on the Doctor's face.

"I will make a deal with you, Gramps. You do this for me and I give you my word no harm comes to her. In fact, I will allow you to secure her in a nice room with several aminities. However," the Valeyard said, holding up a finger. "If I see the slightest hint of betrayal, her hotel room becomes a torture chamber and since the Bad Wolf seems to heal any wound, it's gonna take a look of umph to kill her and that will be very icky and unpleasant for your beloved, right? So…your choice."

He smiled at the angry look on the Doctor's face, knowing he had him right where he wanted him.

"I'll do it on one condition," the Doctor finally said.

The Valeyard stared at him in disbelief.

"You're really not in the position to negotiate, old man," he said.

"I don't want the Master or the child harmed either. Set them free and seal them up in a room so they can't do any damage but let them go."

"What? Why?" the Valeyard said. "Why do you care what happens to them?"

"Because the Master was my friend and I don't like seeing the child under your control. So let them go and leave them alone and leave Rose alone and I'll go in search of everyone else."

"Alright, fine, whatever, I was tiring of them anyway," the Valeyard said, waving his hand dismissively.

"Thank you."

"Don't thank me. You're the one that has to hold up your end of the bargain," the Valeyard said.

"No, you do. Because if I find out they've been harmed, there's nowhere in time and space that you'll be able to run to escape me," the Doctor growled. "And I wouldn't take that threat lightly…young man, because I have a new personality that's still sorting itself out and so far I seem to be the sort that doesn't bat an eye at killing others and caring about it. So watch it!"

The Valeyard snorted.

"Fine, just get everyone in a room and get going before I die of boredom," he said flippantly as he waved his hand around.

The Doctor turned to Rose and Rose was momentarily taken aback when the menacing look faded and she saw tenderness on his face as he walked over to her.

Come with me, Rose, he thought to her. I'm thinking of a way to get us out of this but for the moment, I need to put you somewhere comfortable.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter Seventeen

After an hour, David returned home carrying a burlap sack filled with food. Susan told the Doctor and Clara to wait in the parlor while she went to welcome him home and explain the situation.

"Do you think Susan will be strong enough to face the Valeyard?" Clara said softly to the Doctor when she left the room.

"Hope so. The TARDIS must think so or she wouldn't have brought us here. Still, I hate to involve her in this. She has enough on her plate as it is."

He shut up when Susan entered the room with David.

"There he is," Susan said, pointing to the Doctor as the Doctor rose to greet them.

"That's your grandfather, the old man who left you behind?" David said to Susan after getting a good look at the Doctor.

"You didn't tell him I regenerate?" the Doctor said as he and Clara walked towards them.

"I did but I didn't tell him you could be a different age," Susan said sheepishly. "But yes, David, this is Grandfather and this is his friend, Clara."

"Doctor, good to see you again," David said, stepping forward to shake his hand.

The Doctor grinned and shook his hand. David still looked the same, except he seemed a bit more relaxed and he was cleaner.

"Thank you for staying with my granddaughter, David," he said to him.

"I love her, Doctor," David said, putting his arm around Susan. "I wouldn't dream of leaving her anywhere."

"Grandfather needs to meet with the council," Susan said to him. "There's a new threat coming."

"More Daleks?" David said with a sick look on his face.

"No, hopefully not," the Doctor said. "But I have an adversary that is hunting me and Clara. He has another version of me and a friend of mine and a few others. He wants me badly and if he knows Susan is here, I'm sure he'll try to capture her as well."

"Over my dead body," David said.

"I don't know if I can fight him alone," the Doctor said to him. "We may need some help. At least some assistance in hiding and ambushing them."

"Let me put the food in the kitchen and then I'll take you to one of the council members. He lives near here," David said.

The Doctor nodded and smiled when David kissed Susan's cheek before he walked out of the room with the bag of food.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Well, this oughta do it," Twelve said as he looked around the room.

Rose's prison consisted of her bedroom with en suite bathroom but the TARDIS had added a doorway to a small library and a doorway to a small cinema room plus a fully stocked kitchen.

"I think you'll be alright here, Rose," he said. "I woulda killed to have had a prison cell like this on many planets."

"I'm just worried about you," Rose said, taking his hands. "That's all I care about."

"I'll be fine," the Doctor said. "There's some fight in this old fart, trust me."

Rose chuckled and squeezed his hands.

"I'm glad I found you again," she said. "Even if you aren't the touchy feely type anymore."

The Doctor smiled.

Just remember the link, it should work outside the TARDIS, he thought to her.

Rose nodded and she was surprised when the Doctor pulled her to him and gave her a very brief and tentative hug. Rose hugged him back tightly; thankful for this small amount of affection and hoping he wasn't doing it because he was afraid the Valeyard might do something to her.

"Come back to me," Rose murmured as she pressed her ear against his chest and listened to his heartbeats.

The Doctor laid a hand on top of her head and again, to her surprise, he gave her a soft kiss there. Rose fought back the tears as the Doctor forced himself to part company. He walked backwards out of the room and waved at her before the TARDIS sealed the door shut and Rose found herself staring at the wall.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

After making sure Rose was safe, the Doctor, seething from being forced to leave her behind, walked on to the next room. The TARDIS had the doorway sealed up but a golden glow emanated from the spot where the door had been, giving him an idea of the location of the prison cell. When he reached the glow, it stopped and the wall opened up and became a door. The Doctor looked inside at a frightened little boy sitting on a child sized bed.

"Hello," the Doctor said as he stepped inside the room.

The child scooted back to the wall and cowered there. The Doctor sat down, noticing that the TARDIS sealed up the doorway again as he did and smiled warmly at him.

"What's your name?" he asked him.

"Xelok," Xelok said in a small, frightened voice.

"Nice to meet you at last. I'm the Doctor. I'm sure you're a bit confused now since you're not under anyone's influence but this is my TARDIS and this room is going to be sealed up but you'll be safe here until I return. You have a loo and…"

He walked over to an open doorway beside the bed and peered in.

"Toys. You have toys, heaps of toys in here," he said, pointing to the room. "So make yourself at home. And I'm sure the TARDIS will provide you with some food if you'd like."

"Don't hurt me," Xelok whimpered.

"I won't hurt you," the Doctor said gently. "I'm trying to protect you from the one who will hurt you. You can trust me, I promise. I need to go look for a few friends but I'll return and check on you. In the meantime, stay in here and be good. Don't try to escape or make anyone angry, yeah? I'm keeping an eye on you, trust me."

Xelok nodded. The Doctor started to walk towards the bed but he stopped when the boy gave him a fearful look.

"Be good, Xelok, and I'll be back, promise," the Doctor said.

"Okay," Xelok said softly.

The Doctor smiled warmly and looked over when the doorway opened up.

"Stay," he said, pointing to Xelok.

Xelok nodded and watched as he walked out. The doorway sealed up and Xelok whimpered a bit, knowing he was trapped. Then there was a flash and suddenly a plate with a peanut butter sandwich appeared on the bedside table. Xelok stared at it for a moment before he slowly scooted back across the bed. He sat on the side of the bed, took the sandwich off the plate and began to eat it.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter Eighteen

Finally, it was the Master's turn. The Doctor was a bit hesitant about seeing his old friend again but he had to make sure he was safe and comfortable before leaving. Once more the TARDIS shone a light where the door was supposed to be but this time the Doctor asked that the doorway be covered with a forcefield barrier as well as asking for a forcefield barrier around himself. Once the door was uncovered, a pale blue light surrounded the Doctor as he stepped inside. The Master was sitting on a chair by a wooden table in the corner of the room. There were several leatherbound books sitting on the table but all of them were unopened as the Master glared at the Doctor.

"Hello, Master," the Doctor said.

"I will defeat you, Doctor," the Master growled at him.

The Doctor chortled.

"Defeat me? You couldn't even defeat my clone. The only reason you have your mind back is because he gave it back after I made a deal with him. Master, you bit off way more than you can chew this time."

"Why does that Doctor only have one heart if he's your clone?" the Master said, getting to his feet.

"Because he's half human. It's a long story and I don't have time to tell it now. But what you did, apparently, was go inside him and awaken the sleeping demon, so to speak. Because of you, you created a monster and it apparently backfired on you and you became his slave. Just goes to show that you are incredibly thick at times."

The Master growled and started to come towards him, fists clenched, but stopped when he saw the forcefield properly for the first time. A smirk spread over his face.

"Afraid of me, Doctor?" he said, gesturing to it.

"A precaution. I'm not going to be here long and I don't want to fight you," the Doctor replied with a shrug.

"Why are you here then?"

"Well, call me crazy but I still care about you in some way and I want to make sure my clone has made you comfortable while I'm gone," the Doctor replied. "Word of warning though, I suggest you don't make trouble because you might end up being his lackey again…or worse. I did this as a kindness, don't be foolish and do something you'll regret. Oh and question, by the way, who is Xelok and why is he following you?"

"Is he safe?" the Master said.

The Doctor raised his eyebrow as a bemused grin came over his face.

"Does that sound like concern just then?" he said.

"I found him on Gallifrey. He was homeless and starving and at first, I did hypnotize him to be a servant but yes, I suppose in some small way I do care about the boy so is he alright?"

"He's fine. He's in a room of his own. I just checked on him. Now I have another question. Is this new body a regeneration or did you steal it?"

"Stole it," the Master said proudly. "It was the general of the Gallifreyan army. I took his body because he was being a git."

"Oh! Okay, I thought he looked familiar," the Master said. "So…another life ruined then, Koschei?"

"You tell me, Theta. You're the expert on ruining lives."

He grinned when the Doctor stiffened at the mention of his academy nickname.

"Oh yes, so sorry I uttered the unutterable just then. Would you prefer Bubbles instead?" he said.

"This conversation is at an end, Master. I have no time for fripperies now," the Doctor said, waving his hand dismissively.

"You're not getting away from me, Doctor," the Master said as the Doctor turned to leave. "You will be mine and I will have my revenge."

"As I said before, I wouldn't be making idle threats like that," the Doctor said over his shoulder as he walked towards the doorway. "The last time you tried to exact your revenge, you ended up a puppet. Goodbye, Master."

He walked through the forcefield as the Master bellowed curses at him. Once he was through the wall closed up and his ranting was silenced as the protective forcefield around his body dissapated.

"Right. Now to business," the Doctor muttered as he made his way to the console room.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Clara was stunned at just how vacant and quiet London was without the normal number of people in it. She and her Doctor were following Susan and David as they led them to someone they called Joseph. Another thing that stunned her was the revelation that the Doctor had a granddaughter. She kept forgetting that his youthful visage betrayed his actual age and it felt odd to think of him as an old man when he was barely older than she was.

Susan carried a can of mace with her. She explained that there were some wild dogs that did pose a threat. In fact, she had to use it once on a feral Doberman when it came out of a nearby alley, growling and snarling at them. Clara was suddenly thankful that she didn't have the same kinds of problems that Susan and David had in their day to day living.

Susan and David led them to a semidetached house about a half mile from their house. Like their house, it had seen better days. There were holes in the walls that had been patched up with boards and one window in the front was also boarded up. Susan walked up three steps to the scuffed, black front door and knocked on it while everyone else waited. After thirty seconds the door opened and a young lady with long blonde hair stuck her head out.

"Oh hello, Susan, David," she said.

"Hello, Sheila, is your grandfather home?" Susan said to her.

"Yeah, come inside, let me go get him," she said, opening the door wider.

They stepped into the entryway and Sheila led them to the lounge. Like Susan's house, it was old and battered, mismatched furniture and there was a fire burning in the fireplace. Sheila invited them to sit down before leaving the room. The Doctor looked at a painting in a gold frame over the fireplace and recognized it as the Battle of Waterloo. Apart from that, the walls were bare and cracked. The Doctor found it somewhat depressing. He liked a bit of decoration so the eye had something to look at. He turned his attention to a nearby window and noticed a spider had spun a web just outside it on the right hand corner. He watched the spider slowly moving across his web for a minute before Clara cleared her throat and got his attention. He turned his head around as Sheila walked into the room followed by an elderly man leaning on a wooden cane. The man was bald except for a few wisps of hair on top of his head and his face was heavily lined. He wore glasses with tortoiseshell frames and he was dressed in blue trousers and a white shirt with black leather slippers on his feet. He said hello to Susan and David before gazing at the Doctor and Clara.

"Councilman Joseph," Susan said, standing up. "This is my…brother, the Doctor, and his friend, Clara. They've come to ask the council for help."

Clara stifled a giggle at the hurt look on the Doctor's face when Susan called him her brother. But he gestured to Clara and both of them stood up while Joseph walked towards them.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter Nineteen

Finally, the Doctor was ready to go, albeit reluctantly. He was forced to wait while the Valeyard installed an artron tracker on his shock collar so he could track him and then listen to another round of threats against him and Rose as he walked to the front door.

"Remember, find them and bring them back here as quickly as possible or Rose dies," the Valeyard said to him as he opened the front door.

That did it for the Doctor and without warning, he suddenly lunged at the Valeyard, seizing him by the throat and shoving him up against the wall.

"I have my limits, Valeyard, and you are severely testing them," he growled at him.

"Let go of me or Rose dies in front of you, slowly and painfully," the Valeyard growled back.

"She dies and you die, slowly and painfully," the Doctor growled at him. "You may think you can bully me by threatening Rose but if she gets even one scratch on her while I'm gone, you will find out just how much I've changed from your progenitor."

He roughly let go of the Valeyard's neck. The Valeyard glared at him but the Doctor took pleasure in seeing a hint of fear in his eyes. He glowered at him.

"No one is to be harmed," the Doctor said, sticking a finger in the Valeyard's face.

"Yes, fine, whatever. Go!" the Valeyard said angrily.

The Doctor kept his eyes on him as he turned to the door and then finally, he turned his head around and the Valeyard breathed a sigh of relief as he left the TARDIS.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Joseph sipped a cup of tea while he listened to the Doctor's proposal. Sheila sat next to him on the sofa and everyone else was sitting in chairs in a semicircle around it. Clara was listening to the Doctor state his case but she wasn't sure Joseph was eager to go along with it, especially since the Doctor was explaining about yet another threat to London.

"I am sorry to hear of your troubles, Doctor," Joseph said when he finished speaking. "But why should we concern ourselves with this matter. The Daleks were a worldwide threat. This, however, seems to be a personal matter between you, your friend and this Valeyard chap. We have matters that are more pressing, like the rebuilding and recovery of London."

"I understand that, Councilor," the Doctor said. "But the Valeyard threatens the safety of everyone, like the Daleks did. He is just as ruthless and heartless and we need all the help we can get. I realize that the council has no quarrel with him but that won't stop him from harming you. He will do everything in his power to stop us and that might mean harming anyone that gets in his way and that could include you, your granddaughter or any other civilian."

"And what exactly do you need from us, Doctor?" Joseph asked.

"I need people to help us out. I need places to shelter and to make a stand against the Valeyard or possibly to trap him. If he finds out where we are, the entire area will be affected. You need to move people away from this area because he'll be trying to track my…ship and he won't hesitate to use people as human shields or as leverage. I also need stun guns, something nonlethal that will allow us to stop him."

"If he's as big a threat as you say, Doctor. Why not kill him?" Joseph said.

"Because he tries not to do that," Susan said to him. "He tries to be merciful."

"And were you merciful towards the Daleks?" Joseph said to the Doctor. "Because the Daleks also enslaved and robotized humans, used them as leverage and shields and showed no mercy to them."

"I do not take killing another living being lightly," the Doctor said. "Sometimes, yes, it is unavoidable but I try to find other solutions first. The man who used to exist before the Valeyard was awakened might still be salvaged if I can capture him. I want to try to purge this evil from his mind or at least seal it away. I want to try to save him if I can and I want him alive for that purpose."

"I'm sorry, Doctor," Joseph said, shaking his head. "I understand your point of view but the city has more pressing matters to attend to. I can't spare the manpower to go and fight a threat that is a danger only to yourself."

"But he's not just a danger to himself, he's…"

The Doctor held up his hand to silence Clara and he nodded at Joseph.

"Thank you for your time then, Councilor," he said.

"I'm sorry, Doctor. I hope you are able to contain the threat. Perhaps if this Valeyard proves to be a bigger threat to London, we will convene a meeting and talk it over but until then, I'm afraid you're on your own. Now if you'll excuse me…"

Everyone stood up when Joseph did. Sheila gave them an apologetic look as Joseph leaned on his cane and slowly left the room.

"Sorry, Grandfather," Susan said.

"No, it's alright. I understand they're all less than eager to tackle another big threat to London. Clara and I will make do without them."

"And me, Grandfather, I told you I'm fighting with you," Susan said.

"And you can count me in as well," David said.

"And me."

Everyone looked over at Sheila when she entered the room.

"My grandfather is old and set in his ways," she said to them. "Most of the people around here have been traumatized by the Dalek invasion and they want to stick their heads in the dirt and pretend its business as usual. They want to pretend that the Daleks are gone and nothing bad will ever happen again and so when you bring us news of a possible new threat, he digs in his heels and pretends that it won't affect him. Most of the people around here are tired and demorialized and if the Daleks came through again, they wouldn't put up much of a fight. I'm not like that though. I want to join you and help you. I can be a guide and show you the best places to hide. I know a few deserted buildings that would be great in an ambush."

"So do we," David said, nodding at Susan. "You don't need the council, Doctor. All they'll do is sit around and discuss and vote. What we need now is action."

"Thank you," the Doctor said.

"Just let me tell Grandfather that I'm going with you so he won't worry," Sheila said.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Clara and the others stood outside waiting for Sheila to join them. As they milled about, Clara turned and froze when she saw Twelve nearby signaling to her.

"Doctor, look!" Clara said to Eleven.

Everyone turned and Twelve gazed at Susan with pain in his eyes when he saw that she didn't know who he was.

"That's him, Doctor, that's you," Clara said to Eleven, pointing to Twelve.

"Oh my God, I'm old," Eleven said with disgust. "I asked about not being ginger but I should have asked if I'd gotten old as well. Ugh!"

"Shut it, Chinny," Twelve said as he walked up to them. "I don't have much time. I'm supposed to be hunting you down and bringing you back to the TARDIS."

"Grandfather?" Susan said, stepping forward.

Twelve smiled and nodded.

"There you go, Susan, someone who actually looks like your grandfather," Eleven said.

Twelve flipped him the vees which made Clara grin.

"Now that the wisecracks are over, Babyface Me, can we go somewhere and talk in private?" he said to them.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter Twenty

Twelve stood with the others while they waited for Sheila to come out. While they were doing that, Susan gave him a hug and kissed his cheek. Clara noticed that the Doctor stiffened slightly when she did that but to his credit he tolerated it because he knew it would hurt her feelings if he told her he wasn't a hugger and pushed her away.

Meanwhile, Eleven was still giving his older counterpart the onceover. Clara could tell he was a bit distressed at seeing himself older. But she figured that once he was gone, he would forget everything the way the War Doctor and Ten supposedly did when they left the Gallery. She also wondered if he was surprised that there would be more lives to come since she now knew that he was on his last life. She wondered if perhaps subconsciously he would remember this meeting and that would give him some comfort as he aged on Trenzalor.

When Sheila finally came out, she was dressed in long black trousers and was wearing a black jacket. Her long blonde hair had been tied up in a bun and she was carrying a heavy rucksack on her back.

"Sorry everyone, wanted to dress properly for this and get a few supplies. Grandfather wasn't too keen on me doing this but I'm twenty so he really can't stop me. Oh, you found someone else then?" she said, noticing Twelve for the first time.

Eleven debated for a few seconds on whether to tell her the truth, then just decided to tell part of the truth and leave out that this was a future version of himself.

"This is one of the people that escaped the Valeyard," Eleven said to Sheila.

"Well, I really haven't escaped," Twelve said, pointing to his collar. "I've been sent to find you and if I don't bring you back to the Valeyard, Rose dies."

"So what are we going to do then?" Clara said.

"Well, I need to think of a way to satisfy the Valeyard without seeing you all imprisoned," Twelve said.

"Let me go then," Clara said. "Maybe that'll be enough. Does he know about…"

"Him?" Twelve said, pointing to his counterpart, "yes. And he suspects Susan is here as well. He wants all of us."

"Take me then," Eleven said. "Leave them and take me, maybe that way we can stall for time until a solution is found. I'm sure I'm the biggest prize here."

"And then what?" Twelve said. "Because then he'll put a collar on both of us and send us out."

"Yes, but hopefully by that time, a plan will be formed," Eleven said. "Look, I know it might not work but I'd rather take the chance of being tortured than watch everyone else be in pain. Just take me and tell Crabby Clone that everyone else ran away."

Twelve thought it over for a moment before nodding.

"Alright, I'll go back with him and we'll try to work from the inside to set everyone free. You lot think of a way you can infiltrate from out here," Twelve said.

"But what if we need one of you," Clara said. "A Time Lord would know how to get inside the TARDIS."

"You have a Time Lord…well, Lady," Eleven said, pointing to Susan. "She's my granddaughter, she can help you."

"But, Grandfather…ers," Susan said, correcting herself as she pointed to the Doctors. "Are you sure you'll be alright?"

Eleven started to go towards her when Twelve stepped up and put his hands on her shoulders.

"We'll be fine, Susan," he said. "Just worry about this lot here and keep them safe and me and myself will be handling things inside the TARDIS. We can manage and so can you, yeah?"

"Yes, Grandfather."

Twelve smiled and put his hand against her cheek before he turned and looked at Eleven.

"Right, shall we?" he said to Eleven.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Eleven walked in front of Twelve as they made their way back to the TARDIS. After some debate, they decided to walk this way to make it look like Eleven was Twelve's captive. As they walked, Eleven's heart began to beat faster at the thought of seeing Rose again. At first he kept his thoughts to himself but then he decided to make some small talk to pass the time.

"How is Rose?" Eleven said to Twelve as they walked.

"Fine. She's the same as always."

"Looks the same?"

"Yes but I found something troubling in her DNA."

"Oh?" Eleven said, looking over his shoulder. "What did you find?'

"Traces of Time Lord DNA."

Eleven stopped short and turned to him, stunned.

"What?" he said to Twelve. "How can that be?"

"Maybe…the TARDIS mutated her DNA when she took it into her body," Twelve said, shaking his head. "Maybe there really is some sort of mystical Bad Wolf thing inside her. All I know is I watched the Valeyard stab her and her body healed itself and saved her. I made a small incision with a scalpel on her palm and that healed back as well. There's a golden glow that surrounds the wound and I thought it might be nanogenes that got into her system but I can't see any sign of them."

"The Valeyard stabbed her?" Eleven said, his fists clenched.

"Yes. He had us in a forcefield prison which is why the bastard is still breathing," Twelve said darkly.

Eleven forced himself to remain calm.

"Okay, so we have to sort that out as well as stop the Valeyard," he said.

"Seems so. So if you'll turn and walk, we can begin the sorting out process," Twelve said, pointing over his shoulder.

Eleven turned and the two of them continued walking. They reached the TARDIS ten minutes later and Eleven stood patiently by the door while Twelve pounded on it and announced that he had a prisoner. The Valeyard opened the door and gazed at Eleven while Eleven gave him a look of death. Then, ignoring the death look, he looked around before looking at Twelve.

"What's this?" he said to Twelve as he pointed to Eleven.

"A prisoner, what does it look like?" Twelve said condescendingly.

"Where are the others?" the Valeyard said, matching his condescension.

"They escaped from me, he surrendered," Twelve said, gesturing to Eleven.

"Okay, so go and get the others. I will put this one somewhere…pleasant, as per your instructions," the Valeyard said with a mocking tone of voice on the last bit. "Go now, run along before I do something to Rose. You, Chinny Chin Chin, inside!"

"Why is everyone always making fun of my chin?" Eleven said in exasperation.

The Valeyard, hearing that, backed up mockingly as Eleven entered the TARDIS.

"Wow, I nearly got rammed by the battering ram on your face," the Valeyard said as a forcefield surrounded Eleven the moment he was inside and away from the door. "So, Gramps, go on and be a good doggy and fetch the others. Go on, that's a good boy," the Valeyard said.

Before Twelve could retort, the Valeyard grabbed the door and slammed it.

"Cor blimey, I thought Gramps was ugly but you…where the fuck are your eyebrows anyway?" the Valeyard said, getting a good look at his prisoner.

"They're delicate," Eleven said annoyed.

"Mm. Well, anyway, Chin Chinny Eyebrowless, let's go for a ride now."

Eleven was taken aback by that.

"You're leaving?" he said to him.

"Momentarily. I have an idea. Just stay there and mind your chin. Don't want it punching a hole in the forcefield."

Eleven glowered at him as the Valeyard chuckled.

Meanwhile, Twelve was walking away, intending to head back and give the others an update on the situation when he suddenly heard the TARDIS start up. He spun around and his mouth fell open as he watched his TARDIS dematerialize in front of him.


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter Twenty One

"You bastard!" Twelve said as he stared at the spot where the TARDIS had been. "When I find you, I'll kill you!"

He felt sure that the Valeyard did this so he could renege on his promise not to hurt anyone, especially Rose. He hoped that his counterparts TARDIS was nearby so they could track him. He was about to go and break the news to everyone when he suddenly heard a faint wheezing. He turned towards the Thames and watched as the TARDIS materialized on the other side of the river, away from his grasp. He gritted his teeth as he watched the door open and the Valeyard coming out. The Valeyard stopped in front of the TARDIS, turned towards him, brought a loudhailer up to his mouth and the Doctor could hear a faint, "Cooo-eeee!" as the Valeyard waved his arm around.

"LET THEM GO!" the Doctor roared.

"I can't hear you," the Doctor heard him say faintly into the loudhailer. "But never mind that, I have a gift for London!"

He walked back inside the TARDIS while the Doctor clenched his fists and tried to keep his rage in check. Five minutes later, the Valeyard was pushing with one hand a floating metal ball that was encased inside a forcefield designed to cancel its weight. The Doctor watched while the Valeyard moved the ball thirty feet away from the TARDIS before setting it down on the ground and turning off the forcefield. He then raised the loudhailer to his lips.

"This is on a time delay so just stand there and watch," the Valeyard said to the Doctor. "It won't be long but I'm sure you'll enjoy what comes out of it. Just giving you a wee delay so you can't track me."

"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH THE OTHERS?" Twelve bellowed.

"Sorry, still can't hear you," the Valeyard said into the loudhailer. "Well, enjoy the day and your surprise. Ta ta!"

The Doctor muttered a curse as he watched the Valeyard push a button on top of the ball before walking back to his TARDIS. He stood there, fists clenched in rage, as the TARDIS dematerialized again.

"What have you done, Valeyard?" he growled as he stared at the ball.

After two minutes, he noticed the front of the ball was sliding up and open and then to his horror, he watched as two Daleks came out of it and looked around.

"No, no, no, no," the Doctor muttered as a sinking feeling hit his stomach.

He heard a very faint "ANNIHALATE ANY HUMANS!" from one of the Daleks before they turned right and moved away from the ball. The Doctor gritted his teeth and ran as fast as he could back towards his granddaughter and friends.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Eleven glared at the Valeyard as he stood inside the forcefield. The Valeyard spent nearly two hours finding and capturing a Dalek and then took great pleasure in outlining his plan to the captured Time Lord after he pushed the metal ball into the ship.

"So where are you taking us then?" the Doctor said as the Valeyard piloted the TARDIS.

"Somewhere nice, I think. Somewhere where you can become acquainted with Miss Rose. You'd like that, right? Be with her again. And I was thinking of making it a bit of a game since I also have the Master on board. Sort of a hunt because I'm sure once the Valeyard learns that you're nearby, he'll want his revenge. Course I sure he wants revenge on me but you'd be the next best thing."

"And then you hope we'll all die, is that it?" the Doctor said.

"Dunno. I was just hoping for a distraction. I planted the Dalek to buy us time but you know, I might go back and get the others and have them join in. So many possibilities when one finally has one's TARDIS back," he said cheerfully. "But in the meantime…"

He pushed a button and the Doctor was teleported out of the forcefield before it collapsed.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Rose was taking a shower in the en suite bathroom to try to soothe her nerves. She had no idea what might happen but she might as well try to get her mind off of things while she was here. She trusted the Doctor but she wasn't sure about the Valeyard and his intentions. Granted, she did think that perhaps it might be a bad idea to be naked when the Valeyard might come and see her but she decided she really didn't care since a nice, hot shower was more important right now.

She had the door shut while she was in the shower so she gasped, spun and nearly fell on the floor of the shower when she heard knocking on the door.

"Oh God, he really is visiting," Rose muttered as she steadied herself.

"Is someone in here or is the Valeyard trying to flood my ship?" she heard someone saying outside the door.

She frowned. His voice was unfamiliar. She turned off the water and listened.

"Oh good, someone stopped the water. The TARDIS won't flood. I really don't want to clean up the mess."

Rose frowned.

"Who is this?" she said, opening the sliding shower door and leaning her head out.

"Rose? Is that you?" the man said excitedly. "It's the Doctor. Well, the other Doctor. I know you met the other me but I'm the me before the other me, if you can follow that. Basically, I'm the me before the me you knew and the me you didn't. Well, technically, you don't know me either…"

"Yes, I can tell you're the Doctor now," Rose said, rolling her eyes.

"Oh good. Listen, are you in the shower because I won't come in if you are."

"Wait, I'm dressing and coming out," Rose said, hurrying out of the shower and grabbing a towel from a nearby rack.

"Ah, good. Waiting then."

The Doctor fell silent as Rose scrambled to towel off and get dressed. Her heart was racing at the thought of seeing another Doctor and she hurried through everything, not caring how she looked. She finished dressing and ran to the door. She flung it open and the Doctor, who was sitting on the bed, smiled warmly at her.

"Hello, Rose. Long time no see."


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter Twenty Two

Clara and the others were in a huddle discussing strategies when Clara saw Twelve running towards them out of the corner of her eye. She turned and shushed everyone, drawing their attention to the Doctor as he panted and puffed and slowed down.

"He let you go?" Clara said. "Where's the other you?"

"Prisoner," Twelve panted. "He took him and took the TARDIS."

"So he's gone?" Clara said.

"Yes but…he came back with two Daleks in a containment orb and let them go. They're on the other side of the Thames doing who knows what at this moment."

Susan paled at that.

"Two Daleks are on the loose in London now?" she said.

"Yes but I'm sure we can destroy or contain them. The problem is that's what the Valeyard wants. He wants to delay us so he can do whatever he's going to do with the captives. Now we waste time rounding them up while he does whatever he wants to Rose and the others."

"Well, I can see where your priorities lie then," Clara said.

"What's that supposed to mean?" the Doctor said.

"Rose…and the others. You mentioned Rose by name," Clara said.

"Well, she's the first person that popped into my head."

"Yes, my point exactly," Clara said.

She grinned when the Doctor gave her withering look.

"Anyway, now that the period of cheekiness is over with. Shall we go find the Daleks?" he said to everyone.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Rose's breath caught in her throat at the sight of the Eleventh Doctor. He was standing there, hands behind his back, while he took in her beauty. Rose swallowed hard.

"Doctor?" she said, stepping towards him.

"Yes, it's me," the Doctor said. "Sorry, didn't get to keep Dick Van Dyke this time around but I hope you like this body just as…"

He grunted when Rose flung herself at him and held him tight. He sighed contentedly and returned the hug, holding her to him and breathing in the familiar scent he missed.

"I already had it out with the other Doctor about coming back when I wasn't supposed to so I won't rehash it with you," Rose said in his ear as she hugged him.

"Thanks. Although, you shouldn't have done but as you said, it's rehashing," the Doctor replied.

Rose kept waiting for him to let go or tell her he wasn't a hugger but he kept on holding so Rose relaxed and enjoyed the feel of his body against hers.

"Why are you here?" she asked him as the Doctor slowly rubbed her back.

"I was teleported in here. Apparently, you and I are going to go on a fun little romp somewhere and I am being sarcastic when I say that."

Rose sighed and stepped back from him.

"He said he wasn't going to hurt us in any way," Rose said.

"Rule one…" the Doctor said, holding up his finger.

"Rule one?" Rose said.

"Yes, what is my rule one?"

Rose frowned.

"Don't wander off?" she guessed.

"No, it's the Doctor lies but I suppose back then I was more concerned about you swanning off than me lying to you," he said to her. "But anyway, he's me and since I lie…"

"Wait, you lie so you were lying about you loving me. Is that why he wants me dead?" Rose said.

"No, I didn't lie about that. But I do lie about some things in order to protect the ones I love or preserve the timeline. Or in the Valeyard's case, he was lying because he's a bastard. But come on, Rose, honestly…you really believed him when he told the other me nothing would happen to us?"

"Well, I hoped that he still loved me," Rose said.

"Perhaps he does," Eleven conceded. "Perhaps that's why he agreed to let you stay trapped in relative comfort. Because he really does care about you, albeit in a twisted way now. But still…"

The Doctor walked over to the bed and sat down on the end of it while Rose followed him.

"Look, it's complicated, always has been," the Doctor said while Rose stood beside him. "I thought that I was doing something good for you. I never imagined that my clone would go off the trolley like this and maybe he wouldn't if the Master hadn't mucked with his mind."

"Do you think you could repair the damage then?"

"Why? Do you want me to?"

"I do care about him, Doctor. He is you, to a certain extent, and I would like to see him restored," Rose said.

"Perhaps we can…but I might have to wipe his memory and give him a new identity."

"He won't remember me?" Rose said.

"Well, that's up to you. From what the other me said, you didn't want to be with him anyway."

"Yeah, but…"

Rose sighed.

"You're right, it is complicated," she said.

"Yes, very," the Doctor said, nodding. "But we can strategize about that later. For the moment…"

He dwindled off and fell silent when he heard the TARDIS suddenly fall silent.

"Rose, I think we've just landed at our new playground," the Doctor said.


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter Twenty Three

The Twelfth Doctor sat inside the jeep as it sped along the road. Sheila had borrowed the battered green jeep from her Grandfather after explaining the situation to him and promising that they could bring the threat to heel. Susan, Clara and David squeezed into the back seat and held on while Sheila drove them over Westminster Bridge. Clara could see the metal ball on the opposite bank. At first glance, it had appeared small, two small to fit two Daleks into it but as they grew closer to it, she could tell it was quite large. The front of it was still open as if the ball were yelling at something. Sheila pointed to it as they drove off the bridge.

"Do you need that?" Sheila asked the Doctor.

"Not yet, we need to find out where the Daleks have gone. That thing is impossible to carry without a gravity cancelling device and I don't have one handy."

"So shoot to kill then?" Sheila yelled as the wind rushed by the jeep.

"I hope so but it's very hard to kill a Dalek when you don't have the right weapon," the Doctor yelled back. "Times like this, I wish we still had Rusty. He could sort them out."

"Who's Rusty?" Sheila said.

"A good Dalek. His mission is to kill all the other Daleks," the Doctor said.

Sheila glanced at him in shock.

"I didn't know there was such a thing," she said.

"Neither did I until recently," the Doctor conceded.

Sheila slowed down when they suddenly heard screams coming from up ahead.

"Might I hazard a guess and say that the Daleks are ahead of us?" David yelled as he pointed out the windscreen.

The Doctor gritted his teeth when he heard the Daleks yelling "EXTERMINATE THE HUMANS!" followed by more screams. He was about to tell Sheila to step on it when she suddenly sped up and drove towards the melee.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, the Valeyard had fetched his prisoners and put them in forcefield prisons. The Doctor and Rose were in one prison, Xelok was in another and the Master was in a third. All of them were standing by the front door while the Valeyard smirked at them.

"Well, I have brought you to the planet of Antarioch," he said to them. "It's a deserted planet…for the most part. The victim of an invasion and genocide. But I'm sure you'll find something to occupy your time."

"Let me go, Doctor," the Master snarled at him.

"Um…gee, should I?" the Valeyard mused as he scratched his cheek. "After all, you are a threat to me at this very minute…oh wait, you're not," he said as the Master glowered at him. "You're all caged up like they are and you know what that means? That means I don't give a fig about letting you go. So anyway, back to me," he said to his captives. "You lot will be led out of here onto the planet and the prisons will be put on a time delay so no one can be a naughty monkey and sneak back inside. And then, I'll be off. But I may come back and get you later on, have to see how I feel about that. But anyway, off we go then!"

He opened the doors and looked out. The landscape was barren with huge craters from bomb blasts. Very little vegetation was growing and there was a hint of gunpowder in the air. The Valeyard glanced up at the blue sky and noticed two suns overhead before sticking his head back inside. One by one, the captives were forced to walk outside and the Valeyard put the forcefield balls on the ground and programmed them to shut off in ten minutes. He did this with everyone, positioning them by a huge crater before he waved goodbye to them. Ignoring the Master's curses and threats of death, he strolled back inside, whistling, and shut the door behind them. The Master kept on yelling, even as the TARDIS dematerialized and left the planet. As soon as the wheezing stopped, the Master fell silent. He looked at the Doctor and Rose and the Doctor suddenly realized that the Master didn't recognize him. He quickly put a telepathic barrier around his mind in case the Master decided to check.

"So why are you here then?" the Master said to him and Rose. "What's he got to do with you?"

"Innocent bystanders," the Doctor said before Rose could speak. "We were in the wrong place at the wrong time, I'm afraid. You?"

The Master snorted.

"Same," he said. "Actually, I was trying to…fix him when he went off the rails and took control of my mind and now we're here," he said, waving his arm around, indicating the barren landscape. "So, my thought is we should work together to try to get off this mudball of a planet if we hope to see civilization again."

The Doctor wasn't so sure that the Master's motives were that innocent but he decided to play along for the moment and pretend that he and Rose were unwitting captives in all this.

"So what are your names then?" he asked the Master.

He resisted the eye roll when the Master raised his chin and gave him a haughty look.

"I am called the Master," he said.

The Doctor half expected trumpet fanfair to come from nowhere after that. He forced himself to play along and nodded.

"And him?" he said, pointing to Xelok.

"This is Xelok, my…ward," the Master said.

The Doctor also doubted that was all he was to the Master but again, he went along with it.

"I am Steve, this is my wife, Abagail," he said, gesturing to Rose.

Rose looked at him and he could see she was slightly stunned by the revelation that she was now his wife. But she recovered and followed his lead as she said hello to him.

"Do you think there'll be any air once the forcefields have dropped?" the Master mused as he turned and looked up at the sky. "This could be a way to kill us and not leave a mess in his TARDIS."

"Perhaps but I doubt it," the Doctor said.

"Oh? And why is that?" the Master said, glancing at him.

"Because he seems like the sort of bloke who does everything in a big way and that includes killing people," the Doctor replied.

The Master nodded, still gazing at the sky.

"I suppose we'll find out in a few minutes then," he said as he continued to scan the sky.

The Doctor looked at Xelok who was visibly frightened and tried to give him a few soothing words of encouragement. The Master glanced back at him and snorted softly before turning his attention back to the landscape, confirming the Doctor's suspicions that the young boy was a tool to be used by his adversary rather than a ward or a son. He made a decision to keep the young boy safe and try to find out where he came from and help him get back there. But for the moment, he could do nothing more than wait until the forcefields collapsed and he and Rose would have to work with the Master to find a way out.


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter Twenty Four

The Doctor sighed angrily when the jeep finally caught up to the Daleks. The two Daleks had already killed a man, a woman and two toddlers and were wrecking havoc on the East End as people tried to get away from them.

"What do we do?" David said as they watched the panic, "we don't have any weapons."

"Yes, you do, I'm a weapon," the Doctor said. "Everyone stay here."

"Grandfather, no, they'll kill you," Susan said, gripping his shoulder.

"Not to worry, my child, I'll be alright. Trust me," the Doctor said, patting her hand.

Susan withdrew it but watched fearfully while the Doctor got out of the jeep and headed towards the Daleks. As he walked, he looked around and noticed an open door a two story house near one of the marauding Daleks. He stopped near it and cleared his throat.

"OI, PEPPERPOT! OVER HERE!" he yelled at one of them.

The Dalek's body stayed in place while the dome swiveled 180 degrees to look at him. The other Dalek, hearing him yell, stopped and turned his entire body to face him.

"YOU WILL SURRENDER!" the Dalek nearest him said.

"Really? You have that option?" the Doctor said with contempt as he pointed to the dead children. "Did you give them that option as well before you shot them dead?"

"YOU WILL BE SILENT, HUMAN!" the second Dalek said as it glided up to the first one.

"YOU WILL SURRENDER OR DIE," the other one added.

"And what happens after that?" the Doctor said with a sneer. "I become robotized? You don't have a ship, you don't have your robotizing equipment, you don't have an army to subjugate this city. You're just two lonely little Daleks out on a killing spree because you're bored and can't think of anything else to do. And you know what? I'm not afraid of you because I am….the Oncoming Storm!"

He chuckled when the Daleks backed up in fear.

"Ah, so you do remember me? I see the Valeyard hasn't plucked you from the parliament then," he said to them.

"YOU WILL DIE, DOCTOR!" one of the Daleks said.

"Kill me then! Kill me dead," the Doctor said, holding his arms out.

He waited. The two Daleks swiveled their domes to look at each other before looking back at him.

"Well?" the Doctor said as he held his arms out. "Kill me, I dare ya!"

The Daleks stared at him while the Doctor smirked.

"I declare open season on myself and yet you're still stood there like a pair of numpties. What? Are you afraid if you kill me, I'll just jump right up and kill you back. Or do you think I'll haunt you for eternity? Are you really that scared of me, Daleks?"

"YOU WILL COME WITH US, DOCTOR!" one of the Daleks said.

"Where?" the Doctor said with amusement. "To the funfair, to the loo, where d'ya want me to come? Just bleedin' shoot me, you cowards. You can shoot down two children so shoot me as well!"

The Daleks looked around and finally one noticed the people in the jeep.

"YOU WILL SURRENDER!" one of the Daleks said while they headed towards it.

"Hey! What about me, you stupid gits! I'm right here!" the Doctor said.

He ran around the Daleks and they stopped when the Doctor threw his hands up at them.

"Oh no you don't, you deal with me!" he said.

"EXTERMINATE!" one Dalek said before firing around the Doctor and hitting the front of the jeep.

Everyone fled from the vehicle and the Doctor ran towards the empty house while the others followed him. He ran inside and stood aside while Sheila ran in followed by Clara. He was waiting for David and Susan but when they didn't follow, he looked out and noticed that the Daleks had cornered them near the jeep. David was in front of Susan, protecting her while the Daleks aimed their guns at them. The Doctor gritted his teeth with rage, found a large piece of plaster lying on the floor nearby and grabbed it. He ran out the door and lobbed the plaster at one Dalek's head. It struck it and the Dalek instantly swiveled his head around to see who had attacked him.

"EXTERMINATE!" it yelled and the Doctor ran as both Daleks began firing at him.

"OH SO NOW YOU HAVE THE BALLS TO SHOOT AT ME!" the Doctor yelled as he though a passageway between the empty house and the one beside it.

He hoped that the diversion would allow David and Susan to get to the house but his blood ran cold when he heard a Dalek firing his laser followed by David yelling "NO!" and Susan's anguished scream. He spun around and ran hell for leather back towards the Daleks, his whole being consumed with rage at the thought of his granddaughter being dead because of them. By the time he reached the front of the house, David was hurrying towards it with Susan in his arms. The Doctor was hoping to distract the Daleks further to give them time to get to safety but before he could a Dalek screamed exterminate and shot at David's back. To the Doctor's horror, David cried out in anguish and fell forward, dead, with Susan still in his arms. The Doctor's rage increased and he was about to go and rip the Daleks apart with his bare hands but he knew he had to get Susan to safety. He was about to move David aside and risk getting shot himself for Susan when Sheila suddenly darted out of the house, leapt off the top step to the ground and shot at the Daleks with a revolver while she ran across the road to another empty building. The Doctor watched with his heart in his throat as she kept on firing at them while she ran, distracting the Daleks enough that the Doctor could move David's body aside and get to Susan. He then noticed that Susan was still alive but fading fast and he surmised she hadn't taken a direct hit from the blasters. He glanced at Sheila who was now inside a house on the other side of the street, firing at the Daleks and keeping them busy before he turned his attention back to Susan.

"Grandfather, I'm sorry," Susan said weakly.

"No, I'm sorry, I should have made sure all of you were alright before I confronted the Daleks," he said.

Susan shook her head at that and looked at David and the Doctor's hearts nearly broke when he saw the heartbroken look on Susan's face as she weakly caressed David's cheek. He cursed the Valeyard for bringing him back here and putting everyone in danger. It was his fault that David was dead and he was going to have his revenge, one way or another.

For the moment though, he had to attend to Susan. He gathered her up in his arms and looked up at the house. Clara stood inside the doorway, a stricken look on her face.

"Will she be alright?" Clara asked softly as the Doctor carried her up the stairs.

"She will once she regenerates," the Doctor said grimly as they walked over to a nearby sofa. "This body is too far gone now; she's going to have to change."

Clara nodded, hating that the Daleks not only killed David but harmed Susan to the point she'd have to regenerate. She wondered if Susan's personality would change drastically like it did with the Doctor. But for the moment, she focused on helping her friend make his granddaughter comfortable, putting a battered sofa cushion at the end of the battered cream colored sofa. She helped the Doctor lay her on the sofa, wincing as Susan groaned in pain the moment her body touched it. Then the Doctor knelt by the sofa and held her hand, bringing it to his lips and kissing it while Clara ran to see where Sheila was. She reached the door but couldn't see any sign of Sheila or the Daleks. Her eyes darted down to David and her heart lurched when she saw his sightless eyes staring up at the overcast sky. She hoped they would be able to give him a proper burial before leaving and let Susan have some time to mourn him.

"Clara!"

Clara turned and noticed the Doctor was helping Clara to stand up. An all too familiar golden glow was emanating from her body as Susan stood on shaky legs. The Doctor looked at Clara.

"It's time," he said to her.


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter Twenty Five

"Back up, back up," the Doctor said to Clara as a golden glow began to emanate from Susan's entire body.

Clara watched as the light engulfed Susan's body and she threw her head back as the light shot out from arms, legs and her head. This wasn't like the last time when the Doctor regenerated. His regeneration had been more subdued than this followed by a suddenly change of body. The golden light was so dense, she couldn't see what was going on any more. Then suddenly the light stopped and Susan jerked her head back and gasped. The Doctor and Clara did a double take and stared at her quietly while Susan shook her head and tried to shake of the effects of the regeneration. After twenty seconds, Susan finally noticed them and she frowned when she saw how stunned they were.

"What's wrong?" she said with a different voice.

"You changed," Clara finally said hesitantly.

"I know. I regenerated," Susan said in a voice that was slightly lower than the one she had. "You must know about regeneration if you've seen more than one version of Grandfather."

"That's not what we're staring at, Susan," the Doctor said.

"What's wrong then?" Susan asked.

The Doctor walked over to her, took a hold of her hand and went off in search of a mirror. Clara watched them go and shook her head in disbelief before she headed towards the front door to look for Sheila.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Grandfather, what's wrong?" Susan asked as the Doctor searched for a mirror.

"You'll see, child, just come with me," he said.

He found a bathroom upstairs and led her inside. Above an old porcelain sink was a bathroom mirror. The Doctor led her to the mirror and asked her to look into it. Susan looked into the mirror and stepped back in shock when she saw Clara's reflection in place of her own. She put a hand up to her face and Clara's reflection did the same.

"What happened?" she said, looking at the Doctor.

"Apparently, you decided on Clara's body when you regenerated. Or else…"

"Or else…what…"

The Doctor shook the thought from his mind.

"Nothing, nothing, I think you were thinking of Clara when you regenerated and you took on her form, nothing more," the Doctor said, patting her shoulder.

"Doctor?"

The Doctor froze when he heard Clara calling him from downstairs.

"Doctor, are you up there?" she called.

"Just stay here, let me explain it before she sees you," the Doctor said to Susan before hurrying out of the room.

Susan went and sat on the bedroom just beyond the bathroom and waited for her grandfather to come back. Meanwhile, the Doctor was sprinting down the stairs, anxious to get to Clara before she found Susan. Clara was in the front room, looking around. She looked at the Doctor when he entered the room.

"Can't find Sheila or the Daleks, I hope they're alright," Clara said to him. "I was thinking we should bury David before animals got to him. How is Susan, is she alright?"

"She's fine, Clara. There is a bit of a…problem though," the Doctor said.

"What sort of problem?"

"She…changed her looks and well…she looks like you now."

"What? How can that be? Is that normal?"

"Well…I'm not sure because I had a friend called Romana that based her body on a woman Called Princess Astra, I look like a bloke from Pompeii and now Susa has gone and done this. So apparently, it's not as unusual as I thought."

"Well…how are we supposed to tell each other apart now? Unless she's taller than me?"

"No, she's quite short…same height as you."

"Then what do we do?"

"I was thinking trim her hair a bit, make it shorter so we can tell who's who. That's the only thing I can think of, apart from putting her on stilts. I'll see if we can find a pair of scissors before we leave here. Now..about Sheila? You can't find her?"

"Or the Daleks, it's all gone quiet out there."

The Doctor cursed under his breath.

"Then we better hurry and sort this out before they start a killing spree somewhere else."


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter Twenty Six

(Meanwhile…)

As soon as the force fields disintegrated, the Doctor stepped in front of Rose in case the Master did anything to her. So far, the Master didn't seem to have any clue of his identity and the Doctor wasn't going to hang around long enough for him to figure it out. He wanted to try to get Xelok away from him as well but the moment he tried to call the boy to him, the Master stepped in front of Xelok, a look of death on his face so the Doctor backed off for the moment and decided to try another way to get to the boy.

He decide to lead Rose away and see what the Master would do. If he would follow or go off on his own with Xelok. So he took Rose by the hand and they walked around the crater while the Master stood there with Xelok, eyeing them suspiciously.

"Well, at least there are no monsters of doom here," the Doctor said to Rose as they walked hand in hand.

"I doubt the planet could support a stalk of grass let alone monsters of doom," Rose replied.

"I wouldn't be so sure. I've seen desolate planets that had more than their fair share of life on it. And the Master is more than enough for any planet," the Doctor said, glancing back over his shoulder.

"Who is he?" Rose said softly.

"Fellow Time Lord," the Doctor said just as softly. "But a complete nutter."

"And you're not?" Rose teased.

"Well, I'm a nice nutter, he's not a nice nutter. There's the difference."

"Ah, I see," Rose said, nodding.

"So…before my clone went off the rails, how were things between you?" the Doctor asked her as they walked past the crater.

"Not that great."

"Why?" the Doctor said, glancing at her.

"Because…he wasn't you, Doctor. I mean he was but…I just love you, I don't want a substitute. I'm sorry, I tried, I really did try but it wasn't the same."

The Doctor nodded sadly.

"I thought I could give you a part of me that could share your life," he said.

"I understand that, I do. But would you settle for a clone of me?"

"No, I suppose not," the Doctor said.

"Excuse me!"

The Doctor looked over his shoulder and noticed that the Master and Xelok were about twenty feet behind them and following. He and Rose stopped and waited while the Master caught up to them.

"I confess I haven't had many dealings with humans throughout my long life but shouldn't you lot stay close to where the TARDIS landed instead of wandering off?"

"And what if he doesn't return, what then?" the Doctor said. "We can't just sit around and wait for him to return, not without investigating the area. Besides, how do you know there aren't terrifyingly monster storms on this planet that could kill us with high speed winds and acid rain?"

"You seem quite knowledgeable about other planets for a human," the Master said wryly.

"I read quite a lot of science fiction and I'm guessing," the Doctor said dryly. "So you can sit and wait or you can be helpful and help us look for shelter."

"Humans don't give me orders!" the Master said, bristling. "I am the Master, I give the orders."

"So do you have a better suggestion then?" the Doctor challenged.

The Master fell silent while the Doctor tried not to smile. The Doctor glanced at Xelok and noticed that he seemed very scared but he sensed he was even more afraid to leave the Master's side. This made him bristle with anger but he managed to control it…at least for the time being.

"Very well, since you thought of the idea, we will carry out your plan of looking for shelter," the Master finally said. "However, I'm still in charge."

"By all means, do lead us," the Doctor said. "Come along, wife."

"Wow, he really is full of himself, eh?" Rose whispered in his ear when they were ten feet in front of him.

The Doctor grinned and Rose returned it, sticking her tongue between her teeth while they looked for shelter.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The Twelfth Doctor managed to find a pair of scissors in a bedroom drawer while Clara sat with Susan on the bed. She still couldn't get over the fact that the Doctor's granddaughter now looked exactly like her, except she was still wearing the clothes she had on earlier. The clothes were now baggy and ill fitting since Susan had lost a bit of height during her transformation but she seemed to be recovering from the shock of looking like Clara and was waiting for her grandfather to find the scissors.

"Right," the Doctor said, walking over to her. "We'll have to do this quickly. We haven't much time and those Daleks might be terrorizing other parts of the city by now."

"Hey, is anyone in here?"

They stopped talking when they heard Sheila calling to them from downstairs.

"Thank God," Clara said with a sigh of relief. "YEAH, WE'RE UP HERE, SHEILA, IN THE BEDROOM."

"Okay, be up in a mo," Sheila yelled to them. "I have news!"

"Hope it's good news then," the Doctor muttered as he sat down behind Susan and studied her hair. "Okay, Susan, going to cut it so it's up past your shoulders and please forgive me if it's uneven, you can always sort that out at a salon later."

"I understand , Grandfather."

Clara shook her head. Susan now had her voice as well. It was incredibly eerie. While the Doctor began cutting her hair, Sheila came into the room. She froze when she saw the two Claras and did a double take.

"Am I seeing double now?" she asked.

"Yeah, you really sorta are," the Doctor said as he trimmed his granddaughter's hair.

"I'll explain but tell us your news first," Clara said.

"Doctor, the Daleks were fakes."

The Doctor stopped cutting and looked over at her.

"Fakes?" he said to her.

"I ran into a building near here and was hiding and the Daleks came inside to look for me. I was in a cupboard, thinking I was going to snuff it and I was there for the longest time but I couldn't hear them moving or speaking. I came out and nearly had a heart attack when I saw them near the door but they didn't move or speak and I know they saw me. I had a good look at them and realized they were dead. That light in their eye, it wasn't there. I didn't see any damage to them. It's like they just quit working."

"I think I know why," the Doctor said to Clara while he cut Susan's hair. "I'm guessing our friend didn't nick the Daleks from somewhere. He had the TARDIS make them and programmed them to run for a period of time before shutting down. He did say this was a diversion. But I'll have to check and make sure once this is finished. The only bad thing is the bastard programmed them to kill and David and those people are dead now because of him. He better hope I don't get hold of him because I'll make him wish he'd never been born."

"What do we do about David, Grandfather?" Susan said.

The Doctor put a hand on her shoulder.

"We're going to have to bury him, child," he said gently. "We don't have the TARDIS so I can't put him on board and freeze him and we can't leave him out in the open for the animals to feast on."

"But we do have a TARDIS, the other Doctors TARDIS is still here," Clara said.

"Where?" the Doctor said.

"He made it invisible somehow."

Realization dawned on the Doctor's face.

"Good. We'll use it then and follow the Valeyard and we can take David and put him in cryo storage and give him a proper burial somewhere."

"Good," Susan said.

While Clara went and told Sheila what had happened with Susan, the Doctor finished trimming her hair. It was uneven in places but he'd shortened it to just below her jaw line. He let her look at herself in the mirror, once again apologizing for not making it absolutely even and once everyone was ready, the Doctor asked Sheila to lead them back to the Daleks.


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter Twenty Seven

Sheila led them to an abandoned semi detached brick house eight houses down from theirs. When they entered the house, Sheila led them to the Daleks who were still in the same place they'd been when they shut down. The Doctor scanned them with his screwdriver and nodded.

"No life," he said to everyone.

He used his screwdriver on the dome of one of the Daleks and then grabbed the eyestalk, lifting the dome up on a hinge. Everyone gathered around while he peered inside at a complex tangle of wires and circuitry. The Doctor poked around with the tip of his screwdriver.

"I think you're right. This is just a robot without a Dalek in it. This mess controls it and I suspect acted as its brain and I can see what looks like a digital clock near the bottom. Most likely the time delay mechanism."

He sighed angrily and slammed the lid down hard onto the Dalek frame. Then everyone gasped when he suddenly kicked it hard, propelling it backwards into a nearby wall. The Doctor glowered, his teeth gnashing in rage as he headed towards the front door. The others let him walk past and then followed behind him in case he decided to take his rage out on something else.

No one said anything as they walked back to the other house. By now, flies were buzzing around David's corpse and the Doctor shooed them away before he instructed everyone to lift him up. He let Susan get the legs so she wouldn't have to walk with her lover's head in her stomach. He left that up to himself and grabbed under David's armpits while Sheila and Clara handled the torso. They slowly walked back to the spot where the TARDIS had been and gently laid him down on the ground before the Doctor took out his screwdriver and did another scan of the area. He smiled when his screwdriver picked up Eleven's TARDIS from the artron energy. He walked over and snapped his fingers and a door flew open, seemingly out of nowhere, revealing the console room within. Sheila stepped back in amazement and gawped at it.

"Clara, fill in our new friend on what this is," the Doctor said, gesturing to the console room before he walked back to David's corpse.

Susan helped him pick it up and Clara and Sheila hurried to help them as they carried him inside. Clara noticed that Sheila was looking around the console room with shock and awe but they kept on going and Sheila went with them out of the room and into the corridor beyond it.

"How big is this box?" she asked as she helped them carry the corpse down the corridor.

"Bigger than you can imagine," the Doctor replied. "And my ship is very helpful as well. TARDIS, please give us a shortcut to the cryo room."

Sheila blinked when the long corridor was suddenly blocked by a wall with a metal door in the center of it. The Doctor directed Clara to open the door and when she did, she shivered as a blast of cold air hit her skin. The room was made of stainless steel, cold and sterile with a steel table that was bolted down in the center of the room. There were twenty small doors on the back wall that opened to slabs where a body could be stored. By now, David was beginning to decompose and he smelled but the Doctor told them that they needed to cut the clothes off his body and prepare him for a shroud as they put him on the table.

"Susan, you know the traditional Gallifreyan burial," the Doctor said. "Can you handle the preparation and direct the others?"

"Yes, Grandfather."

"Are you sure?"

Susan nodded and the Doctor patted her on the shoulder.

"I will be back, promise. Just want to start up the TARDIS and have her scan for the other one," he said before he hurried out of the room.

Clara shivered when he shut the door and the only source of heat vanished from the room. Underneath the table was two metal drawers the opened out. Inside were some implements, including three metal scissors. Clara, Sheila and Susan used the scissors to cut the clothes off David's body. Clara was working on getting the shirt off. As she cut it away from the corpse, she kept glancing at Susan. Susan had tears in her eyes while she and Sheila worked on the trousers but so far she was composed enough to keep to the task at hand. The blood was beginning to pool in spots along David's back, making it look like he was severely bruised. David's mouth was hanging open and his eyes were open as well so Clara gently shut the eyes before returning to her work. Sheila had stopped asking questions about the TARDIS and Clara guessed it was because she was too busy working to ask or perhaps she was getting used to being inside a magical box with a morgue inside it.

By the time, they cut away the clothes and took them away, the Doctor had returned. David was dirty and smelled so the Doctor prepared a preparation to wash the body and deodorize it with some chemicals stored inside the drawers. There were some flannels in the drawers and the Doctor poured a bit of the solution onto all of them and they set to work washing various body parts. Clara sniffed at the air as she worked on the head and upper torso and realized the solution had a lavender scent that was very pleasant. She gently washed the dirt from David's face, gazing at it. He'd been quite handsome and she shared the Doctor's rage that a fake Dalek had taken his life. She heard Susan's subdued sobbing and looked up to see that she was trying not to cry as she washed David's left leg. The Doctor stopped what he was doing, lay the flannel on near David's crotch and walked over to her. To Clara's surprise, the Doctor pulled her voluntarily into a hug and held her while Susan wept. It was then that she realized that perhaps there were differing standards to this Doctor. He might be averse to hugging her because he was trying to set up boundaries in their relationship but Susan was family and she could tell that despite his gruff demeanor, the Doctor loved his granddaughter very much and cared for her deeply. Clara caught Sheila's eye and both women returned to the task at hand while the Doctor soothed and comforted his granddaughter.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Wow, this is a very boring planet they have here," Eleven said as he and Rose walked together through the barren wasteland. "Not even a spoon. A spoon would be nice at the moment. At least it would something other than dirt and craters."

He glanced at Rose when she chuckled.

"Haven't changed that much, have ya?" she teased.

"Well, I have a bigger chin and floppier hair and I like bow ties so yes, I believe I have changed that much."

"Yeah but you still have your sense of humor," Rose said.

"Well, I don't lose that…usually. Course there is Old Man Grumpy to consider," the Doctor said, lowering his voice. "And I was Captain Grumpy as well, as well as Big Ears Grumpy who first asked you to tea…or chips…or tea and chips."

By now, Rose was giggling uncontrollably.

"I fail to see the humor in this situation," the Master said as he and Xelok followed at a distance.

"Just trying to keep things light so our situation doesn't look so bleak, Mister Master," the Doctor said to him.

"Just Master will do and I prefer to be a realist and look at things as they really are. Not be all cutesy and touristy about a barren planet that might have a thousand dangers on it."

"All the more reason to be lighthearted. Never know when a sandworm might gobble you up so die laughing," the Doctor said.

Rose put her hand over her mouth to keep her laughter in when she looked back and saw the peeved look on the Master's face.

"And there's another grumpy person," the Doctor said softly as he surreptitiously pointed back to the Master. "We could die a horrible death, true, but that's no reason to be a sourpuss killjoy in the meantime."

"Shut it, I'm trying not to laugh," Rose said between gritted teeth.

"Laugh all you like, I'm not afraid of Mister Master back there," the Doctor said through gritted teeth of his own.

Rose giggled again and the Doctor squeezed her hand.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

After twenty minutes, they finally found a large rock in the middle of the landscape that was about thirty feet high. It took them another ten minutes to walk around it and the Doctor smiled when he noticed a huge cavelike hole in the center of it.

"Ooo, we found ourselves an opening," the Doctor said to Rose. "Shall we explore it?"

"You really wanna die, dontcha?" Rose teased him.

"Do you wanna stay out here in the middle of Nowhere, Planet Nowhere?" the Doctor said.

"Good point. Lead on then, Leader."

"Gladly."

By the time the Master and Xelok came around the rock, the Doctor and Rose were already squeezing themselves through the narrow opening. The Master watched them, dumbfounded, as they entered the rock.

"Are all humans thick?" the Master said to himself.

He sighed as he looked around the barren landscape.

"Still, it's better than walking around in this godforsaken land. Come on, Boy, let's find out where these idiots are going," he said to Xelok before they walked towards the opening.


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter Twenty Eight

The Master snorted when he and Xelok entered the cave and he realized that the rock was just one big hollowed out room with nowhere to go. The Doctor and Rose were ten feet away, looking at the rocky interior and feeling it.

"Oh yes, this is just thrilling," the Master said dryly as he looked around the dimly lit interior. "Much more interesting than the barren wasteland outside."

"Well at least we explored it," the Doctor said, turning to him.

"If you can call it exploring, I call it standing inside a rock," the Master said.

The Doctor smiled at Xelok when he walked over and began to feel along the wall.

"Well, he hasn't given up looking for a secret passageway," the Doctor said to the Master.

"That's because he's an idiot," the Master replied.

The Doctor bristled at that but didn't let it show as he squatted down to examine the dirt.

"And now what are you doing, looking for ants?" the Master said to him.

"I'm trying to find out if any life exists here," the Doctor said to him.

"You do that," the Master said, rolling his eyes. "I'm going to find a way off this planet so I can kill the Doctor with my bare hands. Have fun."

To the Doctor's surprise, the Master left without calling to Xelok. He and Rose waited for him to come back and get him but after five minutes, the Doctor shrugged.

"Ours by default, I suppose," he said, tilting his head towards Xelok. "Come here, Xelok, help me look for life."

Xelok walked over and knelt down beside the Doctor. Rose smiled as the Doctor went into big kid mode, talking to Xelok and being silly with him, making the child giggle while the Doctor pretended to hunt for treasure. She gazed at them wistfully, an old longing growing inside her. She'd always dreamed about having a child with the Doctor and being a family. She wondered if her Doctor would make a good father. After seeing this Doctor's interactions with Xelok, she knew that at least one incarnation would love children.

Without really thinking about it, she walked over and put her hand on the Doctor's shoulder, giving it a loving squeeze. The Doctor fell silent and looked up at her, seeing the loving look on Rose's face. The old familiar nonverbal communication passed between them and the Doctor took Rose's hand from his shoulder and gently kissed the palm. Xelok watched as the Doctor stood up and pulled Rose into an embrace, caressing her back while Rose held him and breathed in his scent.

"The other you, he's not as touchy feely, he doesn't like being held," Rose murmured as she laid her head against the Doctor's shoulder.

"Well, he probably eats prunes and scorpions for breakfast."

Rose giggled at that and the Doctor smiled.

"Probably has irregular bowel movements as well and that's why he's so sour," Rose said.

"Oh no, please don't tell me I have irregular bowel movements next time," the Doctor said, rolling his eyes while Rose giggled.

"And he's not ginger," Rose teased.

"Are you just rubbing things in now, Tyler? You can be unbelievably cruel at times, you know that," he teased back.

"You could always dye your hair at the salon, yeah?"

"No, I'm not putting chemicals into my hair on purpose. I've had enough chemicals thrown on me as it is…and injected and ingested and exposed to…"

He fell silent when he heard scuffling behind him. He looked at Rose and he turned around. Both of them looked at the ground but there was nothing there. Xelok was standing off to the side though with a terrified look on his face. The Doctor called to him but Xelok stayed where he was and pointed to the ground with mute terror.

The Doctor took out his sonic and scanned the ground.

"There's metal here," he said, look up at Rose as he knelt down.

Rose knelt down with him and tried to dig down but they were surprised to find that the dirt was unmovable. Then as they looked at one another in confusion, the Doctor's acute hearing picked up more scuffling underneath the surface.

"Something down there, Rose," the Doctor said, intrigued as he stood up and backed up. "And I think we need to find out just what it is."

He was about to do another scan when a square shaped patch of dirt suddenly Rose up. Rose who was at the edge of it, gasped and fell backwards onto her butt as a metal trapdoor swung upwards. The dirt was affixed to the top of the trapdoor and went with it. The Doctor was about to find out who was down there when a pair of scaly arms shot up and scaly, clawed hands grabbed Rose's ankles and started to pull her into the opening. The Doctor gasped and fell to his knees, grabbing Rose around the waist and pulling the other way, starting a tug of war with the creatures while Xelok pressed against the rock wall in terror.

"Let go of her now!" the Doctor yelled as Rose tried to kick at the dirt and get a foothold.

"Doctor!" Rose said when another pair of arms came up and helped the first by grabbing her shins.

The Doctor grunted and pulled with all his might, thinking briefly that the creatures might be Silurians before dismissing that thought. However, he decided to try something and see if they would react.

"I am the Doctor and if you are the Silurians, I demand you let go of Rose!" he yelled.

The tug of war stopped and the Doctor breathed a sigh of relief when the reptilian hands let go of Rose. Rose scooted away and the Doctor got in front of her while Rose stood up and caught her breath.

"Who are you?" the Doctor yelled into the darkened hole. "Are you the Silurian?"

Still nothing happened for a few seconds and then a Silurian head rose above the hole and peered at him.

"I know one of your own, a Madam Vastra," the Doctor said. "She is a dear friend of mine. We mean your kind no harm, I swear."

The Silurian thought that over before beckoning to him.

"Friend of Silurian," she said with a feminine voice, "You and your allies will follow us. But be warned, we will destroy you if you are lying."

"I understand that and I'm not lying," the Doctor said.

"Very well, I am Bathsheba, follow me," she said.

The Doctor nodded. He beckoned to Xelok but the boy stayed pressed up against the wall. Rose glanced at the Doctor before walking over to him.

"Hey, it's okay. The Doctor and me, we won't let anything happen to ya, yeah?" she said to him.

Xelok stared at her for a moment before tentatively putting his hand in hers. Rose smiled warmly and the Doctor waited till they were at his side before going down first. Rose waited until he called for them to come and she let Xelok go down and then followed behind him.


	29. Chapter 29

Chapter Twenty Nine

After they cleaned and wrapped David's body into a shroud, they put it into one of the cupboards so it would stay preserved until they found a suitable burial place. After they finished their task, everyone followed the Doctor back to the console room. Susan was still upset and Clara and Sheila comforted her while the Doctor piloted the TARDIS and followed the artron signature of the other one. While he flew his ship, he kept glancing at his granddaughter and thought about what prompted her to look like Clara. He had his suspicions but he hoped it was because his granddaughter had took on the visage of Clara in a pinch and not because Clara was…

Even now the idea seemed absurd. Clara was Susan? But he did vaguely remember her on Gallifrey that day that he ran away with his granddaughter. Was Clara in the repair shop twice that day? Was one of the fragments of Clara loomed to be his granddaughter? It boggled his mind but then again, something was keeping them together, he was sure of it. And now his TARDIS had went and fetched his granddaughter without prompting. Was the TARDIS trying to show him the truth about just how impossible the Impossible Girl was?

A beeping sound tore him from his reverie and he looked at the monitor.

"The other TARDIS has landed," he said as he flipped some switches and pressed some buttons. "We're landing as well but I'm angling the TARDIS away from the other one so hopefully the Valeyard won't cotton on that we're there. Hold on everyone."

He grabbed the console along with everyone else and they rode the bumpy ride down to the planet's surface. After a moment, the TARDIS finally landed and powered down and the Doctor checked the monitor.

"We've landed on…Cevros," he said. "Not quite sure where that is but the temperature is about 10 degrees at the moment. Looks a bit parky so dress warmly everyone."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The Doctor waited at the bottom of a steel ladder for Xelok and Rose to come down it. There were two female Silurians, Bathsheba and someone else. The one who wasn't Bathsheba had a long scar running across the right side of her face and across her right eye so she was wearing an eye patch that was tied around her head. Both women wore form fitting leather catsuits with knee high black boots. Both of them wore bulging, brown leather satchels with a strap that was slung over their shoulders.

Xelok paused on the ladder and stared at the Silurians fearfully before the Doctor gently coaxed him the rest of the way down. Xelok exited the ladder but stayed right by the Doctor's side, still gazing up at the Silurians as the Doctor put his arm around him and watched Rose's descent. When Rose finally came and stood beside the Doctor, Bathsheba scrambled up the ladder as the other Silurian brought a small glo ball out of her satchel and squeezed it. The ball shone with a bright radiance as Bathsheba closed the trapdoor, shutting out any other source of light.

"Lead them, Charminia, I will follow them," Bathsheba instructed as she came down the ladder.

Charminia nodded and beckoned to the others. Rose took hold of Xelok's hand and the Doctor walked on the other side of him while Bathsheba brought up the rear. They were heading down a tunnel dug out of the dirt with no lighting or ornamentation that the Doctor could see. The glo ball only gave off enough light to illuminate ten feet ahead of them so he had to trust that these Silurian knew what they were doing.

"Pardon me but what planet is this?" the Doctor said after five minutes of silence.

"You don't know?" Bathsheba said behind him.

"We were brought here against our will so no, not a clue," the Doctor said, looking over his shoulder.

"It was called Abzarion, we have since christened it New Earth," Bathsheba said.

"Why? How did you land up here?" the Doctor said.

Bathsheba chuckled.

"We were also brought here against our will…as slaves, a few centuries ago. This planet once thrived, teeming with humanity but our kind breed quickly and in time there was an uprising. We turned the human's technology against them and obliterated them from the planet…at least there have been no signs of humans for many years…until now," she said, giving the Doctor a pointed look. "We have been tracking you since you landed and since you stumbled upon one of our surface doors, we decided to bring you down and question you on your intentions."

"We have no intentions other than to get off the planet," the Doctor said. "We come in peace, I swear, and we wish to leave in peace."

"I hope you are correct, human," Bathsheba said. "But for now, you will meet with our leaders and they will decide your fate."


	30. Chapter 30

Chapter Thirty

Sheila stood outside the TARDIS with Clara and Susan waiting for the Doctor to emerge from it. The three of them were wearing heavy coats lined with a shiny alien material that the Doctor promised would hold in the heat far better than anything on Earth. All of them were wearing hats, scarves and mittens but that didn't stop the wind from hitting Sheila's face and it made her gasp as it nearly took her breath away. Despite the warm coat and clothes, she was miserable and she longed to go back inside the magic box where at least it was warm and dry.

The Doctor finally came outside and Sheila was shocked to see him dressed in only a blue coat with no hat, gloves or anything else.

"Grandfather, don't you think you should dress more warmly?" Susan asked.

"I'll be fine, Susan. The cold doesn't affect me that much. Now, have you spotted the other TARDIS yet?"

"Not yet," Clara said. "We seem to be in the middle of nowhere."

She swept her arm around at the vast snowy landscape. There were a few dead, snow covered trees scattered around and some snowy hills but nothing else for miles beside them and the TARDIS. The Doctor reached into his pocket and pulled out a peculiar looking set of goggles that resembled night vision goggles. The goggles had a long leather strap and the Doctor slid that over his head and put the goggles down over his eyes.

"What's that?" Clara said, pointing to the goggles when the Doctor looked her way.

"Very high powered binoculars. I can see further than conventional ones," the Doctor said as he slowly turned in a circle to scan his surroundings. "I can see a couple of creatures that resembled polar bears off to the west," he said, stopping and pointing.

Everyone turned to look at where he was pointing but no one could see anything through the swirling snow.

"How far away are these bears?" Sheila asked.

"Perhaps five miles," the Doctor mused after a moment's calculation.

"Well unless the bear is wearing a rocket pack, I suppose we're safe from it," Clara said to her friends.

The Doctor completed his scan and shook his head.

"Don't see it," he said, pushing the binoculars up onto his forehead.

"So when you said you wanted to land far away from it, you meant it," Sheila said.

"I didn't mean to land this far away from it," the Doctor said annoyed. "Perhaps we should go back inside and try again."

"Yes, maybe we should and warm up a bit," Sheila said, wiping wet snow off her cheeks.

"You sound like you're giving in already," the Doctor teased her.

"Well, I don't know if you lot travel frequently in your magic box but I haven't and it's cold out here. Why would that Valeyard bloke even come here?"

"I suspect he's luring us into a trap. I'm sure he knows we followed him. He's not stupid," the Doctor said.

"So he might come to us?" Susan asked.

"Dunno, child. But If this is a trap, we won't be alone for long, I'm sure of it."

As if he heard, the other TARDIS suddenly appeared thirty feet away. The Doctor walked up to the front, urging everyone to get behind him as the TARDIS fell silent. The Doctor waited for the door to open and when it did, his jaw nearly dropped to the ground when Sarah Jane came outside with the the Valeyard. Both of them were bundled up in heavy coats, scarves, hats and gloves. Sarah Jane frowned when she saw the other occupants of the TARDIS standing before her.

"Doctor, who is this?" Sarah Jane said to the Valeyard as she pointed to them.

"Sarah, get away from him now!" the Doctor growled as he tromped through the snow towards her.

"That, I believe, is another Doctor," the Valeyard said calmly as he gestured towards the Doctor. "We better leave then in case something happens to our timelines. Come along, Sarah."

"No, Sarah, don't!" the Doctor yelled as he reached her. "He's not who he says he is. He's not really me."

"Oh and here we go again," the Valeyard said, feigning exasperation as he rolled his eyes. "That whole I'm the better Doctor malarkey. Just ignore him, Sarah. We'll find a nice beach somewhere."

"Sarah, listen, I am telling you the truth," the Doctor said, putting his hands on her shoulders. "He may look like me but he's an evil nutter and he isn't taking you on holiday. Come with me."

"Pardon me," the Valeyard said, stepping up to him. "She's with me. You have your own companions now."

He ducked and staggered back when the Doctor tried to punch him and the Doctor did the same when the Valeyard tried to deck him.

"Come on, Sarah, this is the evil nutter," the Valeyard said, pointing at the Doctor.

He could tell Sarah Jane was torn between leaving with the Valeyard and trying to believe him.

"Sarah, please, I wouldn't lie to you," the Doctor implored as he put his hands on Sarah Jane's arms. "Get away from…"

He trailed off when he noticed the Valeyard was heading into the TARDIS and he loosened his grip on Sarah Jane's arms.

"Doctor?" Sarah Jane said when they heard the TARDIS starting up.

"No, it's an imposter, Sarah, believe me. I'm the Doctor," the Doctor said to her. "Just come with us and we'll take you back home."

By now, the TARDIS had faded away, leaving them all alone. Sarah Jane glanced at the spot where the TARDIS had been before she looked at the Doctor and nodded.

"Okay, I believe you," she said to him. "Just get me out of here."

"Gladly. Come on, you lot, let's leave and…"

Again, he trailed off when they heard the wheezing sound and to everyone's horror, the Valeyard's TARDIS materialized around the Doctor and Sarah Jane until it was completely solid. They were about to go towards it when the door opened and the Valeyard stuck his head out.

"Toodles," he said to them.

He slammed the door and the three women yelled for him to stop as the TARDIS dematerialized and vanished.


End file.
